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January 20, 2017 7:50 AM

Valparaiso Family YMCA (Credit: Facebook/YMCA)

CHICAGO (CBS) Not long after President-elect Donald Trump accused CNN of being fake news and refused to take a question from a CNN reporter, the Valparaiso Family YMCA has declared the channel off-limits in its workout room.

To me, its blatant censorship that I find very surprising, said Greg Quartucci, who has been a member of the YMCA in Valparaiso for more than a decade.

He said CNN has been a fixture on a TV at the Valparaiso Y for years.

The timing of this was very peculiar because I think it was basically a day or two after Mr. Trump claimed that CNN was fake news, Valparaiso YMCA member Greg Quartucci said. I think they switched to the cooking channel.

He said the Y turned off CNN shortly after Trumps angry confrontation with CNN correspondent Jim Acosta at a news conference last week. When Acosta tried to ask a question at Trumps first post-election news conference, the president-elect repeatedly shut him down.

No, not you, your organization is terrible. Quiet. Quiet, he said. As Acosta continued trying to ask a question, talking over another reporter, Mr. Trump continued: Dont be rude. Dont be rude. Dont. Be. Rude. Im not going to give you a question. You are fake news.

Quartucci said the Y has given in to a minority who complained about CNN, and he called it blatant censorship.

It is a Christian organization. Its all about freedom and opportunity, and what theyre doing, I personally think is against what they have on their walls and against what they have as their mission, he said.

A statement from the Valparaiso Y said:

In order to eliminate perceived political bias associated with national news outlets, the Valparaiso Family YMCA will only be showing local news channels in the future.

See the rest here:
Valparaiso YMCA Accused Of Censorship After Banning CNN From TVs - CBS Local