In the wake of the alarming story of The Associated Press being banned from news events inside the Oval Office because President Donald Trump is throwing a hissy fit over the AP not calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, comes this interesting walk down memory lane.

New York University’s James Devitt, a regular Poynter Report reader with whom I correspond often, reached out to remind me of something that happened back in 2009 when Barack Obama was president.

The Obama administration was going to make “pay czar” Kenneth Feinberg of the Treasury Department available to every member of the network pool except Fox News. At the time, Fox News noted, “The pool is the five-network rotation that for decades has shared the costs and duties of daily coverage of the presidency and other Washington institutions.”

However, this is the interesting thing that happened. The Washington bureau chiefs of the other TV networks in the pool — ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC — said that they would not interview Feinberg if Fox News was banned. They also stressed that the ban broke the rules of the pool.

The Obama administration eventually relented, making Feinberg available to all of the pool members, including Fox News, as well as Bloomberg TV.

At the time, then-Baltimore Sun TV critic David Zurawik said, “I’m really cheered by the other members saying ‘No, if Fox can’t be part of it, we won’t be part of it.’ … What it’s really about to me is the Executive Branch of the government trying to tell the press how it should behave. I mean, this democracy — we know this — only works with a free and unfettered press to provide information.”

Gee, doesn’t that part about a democracy sound exactly like what we’ve heard the past few days when it comes to the Trump White House banning the AP?

So that leads me to a few thoughts.

For starters, don’t expect to see the same thing happen here that happened in 2009. Even if other news organizations suddenly rose up and told the Trump administration that they would not participate in media events unless the AP was included, the Trump folks would almost assuredly say, “Fine. Don’t. No skin off our nose.” In fact, the Trump people would likely rejoice by either performing in front of pro-Trump media such as Newsmax, OAN and Brietbart or not doing any media at all.

Meanwhile, you might think the differences here are palpable. But are they?

Trump is stomping his feet and holding his breath because the AP won’t change the name of a body of water that was named before the United States was even a country. The Obama administration’s issues with Fox News ran much deeper. They saw Fox as not being a real news outlet.

In a story published on Oct. 22, 2009, Jim Rutenberg of The New York Times wrote about a meeting between then-senior White House adviser David Axelrod and the late Roger Ailes, who was, at the time, chairman and chief executive of Fox News.

Rutenberg wrote, “Mr. Ailes, who had reached out to Mr. Axelrod to address rising tensions between the network and the White House, told him that Fox’s reporters were fair, if tough, and should be considered separate from the Fox commentators who were skewering President Obama nightly, according to people briefed on the meeting. Mr. Axelrod said it was the view of the White House that Fox News had blurred the line between news and anti-Obama advocacy.”

In an interview with NBC News around that time, Obama said, “What our advisers have simply said is that we are going to take media as it comes. And if media is operating, basically, as a talk radio format, then that’s one thing. And if it’s operating as a news outlet, then that’s another.”

Still, no matter how it was framed, the bottom line is that Obama’s White House tried to punish Fox News because they didn’t like what was being said on the air. But, ultimately, Obama and his advisors relented and let Fox News into the White House. It was the right thing to do.

You don’t get the sense that anyone in the Trump White House is interested in doing the right thing when it comes to the AP and this ridiculous Gulf of Mexico/America story.

What’s next?

So where does this strange story go from here? Nieman Lab’s Joshua Benton does a nice job in “Trump wants news outlets to get on board with ‘Gulf of America’ — or else. Will they?”

The AP continues to call it “The Gulf of Mexico,” as will Bloomberg and The New Yorker, which both follow AP style.

It also appears that many other major news organizations — The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, The Atlantic — will continue to use the Gulf of Mexico, too.

USA Today/Gannett are trying to split the difference, telling Benton that the papers “will continue to use both references to provide clarity and accuracy for readers. For example: ‘The Gulf of Mexico, now referred to as the Gulf of America by the U.S. government …’.”

Benton noted a recent story in the Gannett-owned Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger, which wrote, “After all, it’s not every day people living along the Gulf of America, more commonly known in the U.S. as the Gulf of Mexico, experience snow.”

Live from New York!

“Saturday Night Live” will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a live special Sunday night on NBC at 8 p.m. Eastern. It will also stream on Peacock. The Associated Press has a bunch of details about the special, including who we can expect to see.

I’ve written this several times in this newsletter, but I’m a big “SNL” fan. It has become chic to criticize the show as no longer being funny, or not as funny as the “good ol’ days” of John Belushi, Gilda Radner and the original “Not Ready For Primetime Players.” But I think the criticism has become a lazy cliche from people who actually don’t watch the show.

Is the show perfect? Is every sketch funny? No. But it still lands more jokes and skits than it misses most shows, and it still continues to have an interesting and diverse array of musical guests. I’ll admit that its political commentary might not be as strong as it once was, and that it pales in comparison to programs such as “The Daily Show” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” But the cast is strong, the show still tries new things, and it still has cultural relevance.

Here are a couple of pieces to get you ready for the special. First, The Ringer with “The Best ‘Saturday Night Live’ Sketches, According to the People Who Made Them.” And USA Today’s Kelly Lawler with “The 50 best ‘SNL’ sketches of all time: More than just ‘Cowbell.’”

Media news, tidbits and interesting links for your weekend review …

• The New York Times’ Jonathan Mahler and Jim Rutenberg with “‘You’ve Blown a Hole in the Family’: Inside the Murdochs’ Succession Drama.”
• Once again, Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong shows he seems to be out of his depth as a good newspaper owner. Drew Pinsky — you might know him as Dr. Drew — doesn’t come off well either. Anyway, read this story. It’s Deadline’s Lynette Rice with “L.A. Times Owner Speaks Out After Newsroom Reacts To Way He Reacted To Drew Pinsky’s Attacks On His Own Reporter.”
• CNN’s Brian Stelter with “Trump’s world is all happening on X.”
• Ann Marie Lipinski announced that later this summer, she will step down as curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University after a well-respected 14-year tenure. Lipinski, who serves on Poynter’s Board of Trustees, said in a statement, “It has been a profound privilege to lead Nieman, not in spite of the industry complexities but because of them. Each year, journalism faced new challenges and each year, a new class of fellows rose to confront them. Fortifying those journalists for the future is essential. I am grateful to the colleagues who joined me in that work, strengthened collaboration here on campus and supported a global community sometimes fighting for the very right to practice journalism.” Here’s more from Nieman Lab.
• The Wall Street Journal’s Drew FitzGerald with “It’s Open Season on the Media for Trump’s FCC Chair.”
• My Poynter colleague Angela Fu with “Journalists have a ‘messaging problem’ when it comes to defending fact-based media.”
• The Boston Globe’s Aiden Ryan with “Citing financial challenges, New England Public Media lays off 13 percent of its workforce.”
• Wired’s Andy Greeberg with “The Untold Story of a Crypto Crimefighter’s Descent Into Nigerian Prison.”
• Variety’s Alex Weprin with “The End of TV Is Here.”

More resources for journalists

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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