Journalists vacate Pentagon as new media policy takes effect
More than 30 news organizations have refused to sign the new reporting policy. Many of them crowded into the office.
Dozens of journalists covering the Pentagon vacated their offices inside the Pentagon and handed in their credentials Wednesday as new restrictions on media access went into effect.
The Pentagon had set a Tuesday deadline for news organizations to sign on to the Pentagon’s new access policy or lose their press credentials and access to Pentagon workspaces.
At least 30 news organizations, including Reuters, refused to sign the new policy, citing threats to press freedom and the ability to conduct independent reporting on the world’s most powerful military.
The policy requires journalists to accept new rules regarding press access, including that if they ask newsroom employees to disclose classified or some unclassified information, they could be branded a security risk and have their Pentagon press badges revoked.
The Pentagon Press Association, which represents more than 100 news organizations including Reuters, said in a statement that Wednesday was “a dark day for press freedom and raises concerns that America’s commitment to transparency in governance, public accountability in the Department of Defense, and free speech for all will be weakened.”
“This policy is not asking them to agree, it’s just acknowledging that they understand our policy,” Pentagon Chief Press Secretary Sean Parnell said in a statement Monday.
The Pentagon declined further comment Wednesday.
Journalists said the Pentagon’s news area was unusually quiet Wednesday as furniture, computer servers, soundproofing material from television studios and other items were removed.
“I’ve never seen that place so noisy as a beehive,” said JJ Green, a national security correspondent for news radio station WTOP in Washington.
Greene, who has worked as a national security correspondent for 20 years, submitted his press credentials Wednesday morning. Television stations have until Friday to remove their equipment.
Qualified reporters have traditionally been confined to unclassified spaces within the Pentagon, working across the hallway from the Pentagon press secretary’s office and therefore having access to the department’s press secretary. A press badge indicates that you have undergone a background check.
“We were never allowed to suddenly storm into sensitive areas and people’s offices,” said Air Force Defense News reporter Stephen Losey. “I don’t know of anyone who intentionally eavesdrops or anything like that. Some people make it look like we’re doing it.”
Some journalists interviewed by Reuters said the new restrictions would not prevent them from reporting on the U.S. military.
“The irony of ironies is that Pentagon reporters aren’t having controlled intelligence conversations in the hallways,” said a member of the Pentagon Press Association, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We’re doing it on Signal (an encrypted app).”
The Pentagon’s new policy is the latest expansion of media access restrictions under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host. FOX News is one of the news organizations that has refused to sign on to the new reporting restrictions.
