Trump Campaign To End Media Blacklist

So they say today, at least. CNN reports:

Donald Trump is ending a practice most journalists think he never should have started: his “blacklisting” of news outlets. Effective on Thursday, the Trump campaign says it will approve requests for press credentials from The Washington Post, BuzzFeed, Politico, and other news organizations that were previously blocked by Trump.

A campaign spokeswoman confirmed the change on Wednesday. Trump provided a cheeky statement to CNN about the restoration of credentials: “I figure they can’t treat me any worse!” Several Trump aides, including campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, had been lobbying behind the scenes for a loosening of the restrictions against the Post and other news organizations.

Trump seemingly formalized the bans last June when he announced that he had revoked the Post’s credentials. In August he threatened to add The New York Times to the list, but did not follow through. In most cases, reporters from the offending outlets were still able to attend Trump rallies as members of the general public, but without the access and privileges that press credentials provide.

Some journalists took it as a badge of honor. But the rejection of individual news outlets was troubling, some press freedom advocates said, because of possible chilling effects and precedents. Recognizing the media controversy, and perhaps relishing it, Trump said in June that if elected president, he would not ban news outlets from the White House press briefing room.