Provenance manifest: White House bans CNN, MS Now and Politico
Output: video.mp4 in this folder (30 seconds), rendered from animation.html (web page: index.html; web version of this manifest: manifest.html). Storyline 1 of storylines-data/trump-administration.json.
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Three things are generated from the Storylines data and not listed entry by entry: the Storyline title (used exactly as given), the end card crediting each article by headline and date, and the Read more list on the web page. The soundtrack is music and sound effects synthesised in code by outputs/motion-kit/audio.py (no samples, no licensed music, no speech), so it adds no words or facts. The end card closes with the line "Every fact on screen comes from these articles · theguardian.com". The date rail's stop labels are the dates of the beats listed below.
0:00 · Title
118–26 September 2026
- NoteSpan of the events shown: the ban was announced on Friday 18 September (ban article, published that day) and CNN was blocked from Air Force One for Saturday 26 September.
0:02 · Friday 18 September
2Fri 18 Sept
- NoteDate: the ban article, published on 18 September 2026, says the post was made “on Friday”.
3Trump bans three news outlets from the White House
- SourceTrump bans CNN, MS Now and Politico from White House (18 September 2026)
- Supports
Donald Trump abruptly announced that he is banning outlets CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House over their coverage.
4CNN · MS Now · Politico
- SourceTrump bans CNN, MS Now and Politico from White House (18 September 2026)
- Supports
banning outlets CNN, MS Now and Politico
5Press
- NoteLabel on the drawn press passes.
6“constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”
- SourceTrump bans CNN, MS Now and Politico from White House (18 September 2026)
- Supports
over what he called their “constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”
7Donald Trump on Truth Social
- SourceTrump bans CNN, MS Now and Politico from White House (18 September 2026)
- Supports
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday
0:02 · Friday 18 September · narration
8Donald Trump banned three news outlets from the White House.
- SourceTrump bans CNN, MS Now and Politico from White House (18 September 2026)
- Supports
Trump bans CNN, MS Now and Politico from White House
From the headline or standfirst, not the body text
0:06 · Saturday 19 September
9Sat 19 Sept
- NoteDate: the lawsuit article, published on Monday 21 September 2026, says “on Saturday”.
10Their badges are switched off
- SourceCNN, MS Now and Politico sue Trump after being blocked from White House (21 September 2026)
- Supports
were told that their badges had been disabled and were taken
11Disabled
- SourceCNN, MS Now and Politico sue Trump after being blocked from White House (21 September 2026)
- Supports
had their badges disabled on Saturday
0:07 · Monday 21 September
12Mon 21 Sept
- NoteDate: the lawsuit article, published on Monday 21 September 2026, says the suit was filed “on Monday morning”.
13They sue.
- SourceCNN, MS Now and Politico sue Trump after being blocked from White House (21 September 2026)
- Supports
have sued to regain their ability to enter the building
14The TV networks stop filming the president, in solidarity
- SourceWhite House television pool resumes after banned news outlets regain access (25 September 2026)
- Supports
ceased recording and transmitting White House footage on Monday, in solidarity with CNN, MS Now and Politico
15Fox · ABC · CBS · CNN · NBC
- SourceCNN, MS Now and Politico sue Trump after being blocked from White House (21 September 2026)
- Supports
the five television networks that make up the primary video pool covering the White House – Fox News, ABC News, CBS News, CNN and NBC News
16The TV pool
- SourceWhite House television pool resumes after banned news outlets regain access (25 September 2026)
- Supports
The primary White House television pool
0:10 · In court
17In court
- NoteLabel. The justice department’s filing is dated only “earlier this week” in the 24 September article; the hearing was “on Wednesday” (23 September). The date rail sits at 23 September for this beat.
18Government lawyers argue the ban protects national security
- SourceCNN and MS Now journalists denied access to White House state dinner despite court ruling (25 September 2026)
- Supports
Department of Justice lawyers argued that the ban was necessary for national security reasons
0:12 · Thursday 24 September
19Thu 24 Sept
- NoteDate: the article, published late on Thursday 24 September 2026 (US time), describes the order as issued early that morning and the dinner as “on Thursday evening”.
20A judge orders their access restored for 14 days
- SourceCNN and MS Now journalists denied access to White House state dinner despite court ruling (25 September 2026)
- Supports
issued an early morning order forcing the administration to return access for a 14-day period
2114
- SourceCNN and MS Now journalists denied access to White House state dinner despite court ruling (25 September 2026)
- Supports
for a 14-day period
22days
- NoteLabel for the figure 14.
23That night, CNN and MS Now reporters are kept out of a state dinner
- SourceCNN and MS Now journalists denied access to White House state dinner despite court ruling (25 September 2026)
- Supports
Journalists for CNN and MS Now were denied access to the White House state dinner in honor of Xi Jinping, China’s president, on Thursday evening
0:12 · Thursday 24 September · narration
24Despite a court order, CNN and MS Now reporters were kept out.
- SourceCNN and MS Now journalists denied access to White House state dinner despite court ruling (25 September 2026)
- Supports
Journalists for CNN and MS Now were denied access to the White House state dinner in honor of Xi Jinping, China’s president, on Thursday evening, hours after a federal judge ruled the Trump administration must allow them in
- Supports
notably excluding the network’s editorial team consisting of a reporter and producer
0:19 · Friday 25 September
25Fri 25 Sept
- NoteDate: the pool article, published on Friday 25 September 2026, quotes CNN’s anchor “on Friday morning”.
26The TV pool starts filming again
- SourceWhite House television pool resumes after banned news outlets regain access (25 September 2026)
- Supports
The primary White House television pool has resumed filming administration events
0:20 · Saturday 26 September
27Sat 26 Sept
- NoteDate: the article (published Friday evening, US time) refers to the flight as “on Saturday”.
28CNN is left off Air Force One
- SourceWhite House blocks CNN from Air Force One in latest escalation with news media (26 September 2026)
- Supports
The White House has blocked CNN from traveling aboard Air Force One on Saturday
29Air Force One · Tennessee
- SourceWhite House blocks CNN from Air Force One in latest escalation with news media (26 September 2026)
- Supports
CNN had been scheduled to fly with Donald Trump to Tennessee for a college football game
0:20 · Saturday 26 September · narration
30Then the White House blocked CNN from Air Force One.
- SourceWhite House blocks CNN from Air Force One in latest escalation with news media (26 September 2026)
- Supports
The White House has blocked CNN from traveling aboard Air Force One on Saturday
0:24 · Why it matters
31“This is about more than the rights of journalists”
- SourceTrump bans CNN, MS Now and Politico from White House (18 September 2026)
- Supports
“This is about more than the rights of journalists,” Henrich wrote in a statement.
32Jacqui Heinrich, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, 18 Sept
- SourceTrump bans CNN, MS Now and Politico from White House (18 September 2026)
- Supports
Jacqui Heinrich, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA)
- NoteDate: her statement is reported in the ban article of 18 September 2026.
0:27 · End card
33Drawn from Guardian journalism
- NoteEnd card heading. The card lists every article in the Storyline by date and headline.
Page header
34Thirty seconds on how a ban on three news organisations became a lawsuit, a halt to the TV networks’ pool coverage, a court order and a fresh exclusion, in nine days.
- NoteSummary of the video. Each development is sourced in the script below.
Checks
- Dates. Calendar dates are worked out from each article's publication date and the day of the week it gives (18 September 2026 was a Friday). Each is noted above.
- The 'In court' beat. The national security argument was made in a justice department filing dated only "earlier this week"; the hearing was on Wednesday 23 September. The beat is labelled "In court" rather than given a date, and the rail sits on 23 September.
- Air Force One. The exclusion was reported on Friday evening (US time) for Saturday's flight. The video places it on Saturday 26 September, the date of the flight.
- Drawn elements. The press passes, the five pool dots and the flight arc are diagrams, not pictures of real objects. The five networks and their order come from the lawsuit article. The arc shows no route.
- The TV pool. CNN's dot goes dark first, because the White House removed CNN from pool duty; the other four networks then stop filming in solidarity, as the pool article describes.
- Why it matters. The closing quote is from Jacqui Heinrich's statement on the day of the ban. Her full sentence continues: "It is about the right of the American people to receive a full and independent account of the activities, policies and decisions of whoever occupies the nation's highest office." It is cut at the first sentence for length; the cut does not change its meaning.
- Left out. The opinion piece (Margaret Sullivan) is credited on the end card but not quoted: a 15-second video could not label it clearly as opinion.
- Images. None. Type, colour and drawn shapes only. Sound: narration by a synthetic voice (Kokoro, run offline), with music and effects synthesised in code; no samples, no licensed music.