The war between the Trump White House and the media was taken up a notch yesterday when some legitimate news outlets (and CNN) were barred from attending the White House press briefing. 

It was another move to get the press to talk about themselves and quit focusing on the real issues and it worked to a "T".

CNN went on and on and on and on about the incident and gave up talking about issues like immigration, healthcare and Russia. 

The LA Times (who was one of those that was barred) writes that the lockout came after President Trump on Friday described the media and what he terms "fake news" as "the enemy of the people."On the list were Trump-friendly outlets such as Breitbart News, the Washington Times and OANN, a conservative television network that employs former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski as a commentator.

The off-camera briefing with Sean Spicer, the press secretary, was not solely for conservative outlets. Several mainstream reporters were also allowed in, including the three major broadcast networks and wire services, such as Bloomberg News. Also allowed in were pool representatives who transmit news events to a far larger group of reporters.

The Associated Press and Time magazine were also invited but declined to participate in solidarity with other news organizations that were denied entry.

The White House Correspondents' Assn. protested, as did editors at several of the organizations that were excluded.

In a statement, Times editor Davan Maharaj said that it was "unfortunate that the Los Angeles Times has been excluded from a White House press briefing today."

"The public has a right to know, and that means being informed by a variety of news sources, not just those filtered by the White House press office in hopes of getting friendly coverage," Maharaj said.

"Regardless of access, The Times will continue to report on the Trump administration without fear or favor," he added.