白宫反驳有关川普总统及其行政当局在美国压制新闻自由的说法。
在一个媒体权益组织新公布的新闻自由度年度排名中，美国排名下跌两位，跌至第45个国家。报告批评川普经常发表抨击记者、刊物以及电视新闻网的言论。
白宫新闻秘书桑德斯在星期三的新闻简报会上说：“我认为我们是数十年来最开放的行政当局。”记者无国界组织星期三稍早公布了2018年全球新闻自由指数报告。
桑德斯回答美国之音记者问题时说：“我想，就凭我现在站在这里，回答没有任何事先审查过的问题，就是新闻自由的一个良好例证。任何其它说法都是荒谬的。”
这个回答没有让有线电视新闻网（CNN）的驻白宫首席记者满意。川普总统多次点名抨击CNN是个假新闻机构。
CNN驻白宫首席记者阿科斯向桑德斯提问，她对美国之音记者问题的回答是否是说，川普行政当局是新闻自由的大力倡导者。
桑德斯回答说：“我们支持新闻自由，但我们也支持公正的媒体。我认为这两者相辅相成，媒体有责任报道准确的消息。”
白宫新闻秘书桑德斯说，她经常要面对记者提问题时夹杂“完全不必要的口气，坦率地说，无助于继续对话，或帮助美国人民获得更多、更好信息，而这正是你我的职责”。
The White House is rejecting accusations President Donald Trump and his administration are hampering freedom of the press in the United States.
A media watchdog and advocacy group has dropped the United States two places to 45th in its annual press freedom rankings, blaming Trump’s repeated verbal attacks on reporters, publications and TV news networks.
“I think we’re one of the most accessible administrations that we’ve seen in decades,” replied White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders at Wednesday’s briefing just hours after the release of the Reporters Without Borders 2018 World Press Freedom Index.
“I think by my mere presence of standing up here and taking your questions unvetted is a pretty good example of freedom of the press and I think it’s ridiculous to suggest otherwise,” Huckabee Sanders said, responding to a question from VOA.
The response did not satisfy the chief White House correspondent for CNN, which has been repeatedly singled out by the president as a purveyor of “fake news.”
Jim Acosta, who sits in the front row for the White House press briefings, asked Huckabee Sanders whether she was trying to say, in response to VOA’s question, whether the Trump administration was a champion of the free press.
“We support a free press, but we also support a fair press,” replied Huckabee Sanders. “And I think that those things should go hand in hand and there’s a certain responsibility by the press to report accurate information.”
The press secretary then complained she frequently finds herself “taking your questions in a tone that’s completely unnecessary, unneeded and frankly doesn’t help further the conversation or help the American people get any more information in a better way which is your job and my job.”