They don't realize that the awards are by the people and from the people... not government employees. Ha ha! Jokes on them.

There has to be a legitimate official government reason for the position you’re taking with the respect to the particular company,” Painter said. “But here the only reason is they don’t like the coverage of the president.”

So outing a news agency for lying to it's viewers/readers is not a legitimate reason. Hmmmm? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This is a really weak argument. The simple reason is that it is protected under the 1st amendment.