White House Reveals It's 'Naughty List' With Reporters From CNN, CBS News, NYPost, AXIOS and More

In a controversial move, the White House has just published a new public-facing portal that identifies journalists and media organizations it accuses of publishing misleading or inaccurate reporting.

The online tool includes reporters from CNN, CBS News, the New York Post, Axios, and several other major outlets; it has reignited debate over transparency, accountability, and the potential impact on press freedom.

The move has quickly become one of the most searched for political topics of the day, with many questions to be had about how the list will shape the administration's relationship with the media.

Contents of the 'Naughty List'

That portal, housed on WhiteHouse.gov, serves as a database of sorts to catalog examples of what the administration calls biased or false reporting.

The page boasts several features, including a weekly 'Media Offender of the Week', a searchable 'Hall of Shame' and a public submission form to allow people to send in examples of coverage they believe is misleading.

In the Hall of Shame, entries are labeled as 'Bias', 'Lie', 'Omission of Context' and 'Misrepresentation'. Each entry provides a link to the original article and an explanation from the White House of what is supposedly wrong with it.

According to the administration, the purpose of the project is to provide the public with a single location to review disputed reporting and examine the administration's rebuttals in full.

Outlets and Reporters Included on the List

Multiple major outlets appear prominently in the database. They include CNN, CBS News, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Politico, Axios, ABC News, The Boston Globe, The Independent and the New York Post.

The White House has also listed specific reporters whom it says have printed inaccurate or incomplete information.

Among them are CNN anchor Jake Tapper, who it claims reported on a criminal suspect with incorrect information, and reporters from CBS News and The Boston Globe, whose stories were cited for lacking critical context.

The White House lists are updated regularly, often with entries grouped together by category in an effort to show alleged patterns across organisations.

A number of outlets have already been labelled as 'repeat offenders', a designation the administration applies to publications it claims frequently distribute inaccurate information.

White House Position on the Initiative

The administration says the tool is designed to improve transparency and offer a corrective to stories it maintains unfairly portray its actions and words.

It has characterised the tracker variously as an answer to what officials have cast as the entrenched problem of one-sided reporting, saying the public has a right to such a centralised resource to inform disputed claims.

It also calls for users to submit their own examples of reporting that they believe should be included.

The White House says such a crowdsourced approach will allow the public to join in the effort of identifying inaccuracies and follow how the administration reviews and responds to them.

Reaction from Media Organisations and Press Freedom Groups

The launch has been greeted with sharp criticism by journalists and freedom of the press advocates.

Media organisations named in the database have defended their reporting and said that disagreements over interpretation are no basis for public classification as offenders. Several reporters were concerned the list could be used to discredit legitimate scrutiny and discourage robust questioning.

Press freedom groups have made similar warnings, adding that such lists, which would target individual journalists publicly, will create a chilling effect within the newsroom. They feel this move may well redefine professional reporting disputes as misconduct and therefore undermine public trust in the practice of independent journalism.

Development Rooted in Longstanding Tensions

The database comes at a time when public trust in major news outlets is already strained. Polling in recent years has shown a widening political divide in how Americans perceive the credibility of the media.

The new White House portal marks an escalation in the administration's long-running feud with several major publications, after years of disputed stories, public admonishments, and legal challenges involving news organisations.