The risk with CNN’s court case is that if the network ultimately loses, the Trump administration would have legal precedent to bar any reporters it dislikes from the White House. Perhaps other officials across the country would adopt similar tactics to freeze out pesky reporters who ask tough questions about budgets or policing or the treatment of vulnerable residents. Our point isn’t that journalists wouldn’t get their way, it’s that journalists act on behalf of citizens to hold public officials accountable for their work.