Story highlights "I happen to be a black woman, but I'm part of the press," Ryan said

Spicer told Ryan to "stop shaking your head" at a White House briefing

(CNN) A veteran White House correspondent who engaged in a tense exchange with White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Wednesday the media is "under attack" from the Trump administration.

"We are -- the press is -- under attack. We are under attack by this administration," American Urban Radio Networks correspondent April Ryan said on CNN's "New Day." "It's about discrediting credible media."

Spicer told Ryan at Tuesday's briefing to "stop shaking your head" and accused her of being "hell-bent on trying to make sure that whatever image you want to tell about this White House stays," after she asked him about the investigation into contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russian officials

Ryan, one of the few black female journalists in the press briefing room, declined to say if she thought Spicer treated women journalists differently but did highlight another recent incident involving Spicer and another female journalist.

"I happen to be a black woman, but I'm part of the press," she said. "But this is part of a series of two women this week who have been in the news over something with the press secretary."

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