The U.S. Department of Defense is encountering strong backlash regarding its new regulation that prohibits journalists from the Pentagon’s press office, which it has now classified as a restricted area.
The modification introduces a new obstacle in contrast to earlier administrations, when the office was an open space allowing journalists to approach the desks of military public affairs officers without needing guidance,The Washington Post reports.
“The Pentagon Press Office has been reclassified as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility because speechwriters from the Office of the Secretary of War used the space,” said acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez in a statement to The Washington Post, according to the publication.
These speechwriters regularly deal with confidential information and need access to SIPRNet,” Valdez said. “Therefore, journalists will no longer be allowed to enter the office area.
This “most recent classification,” the Post also noted, “results in a situation where, even if reporters can enter the Pentagon, their capacity to communicate with the department’s representatives will be limited.”
Critics blasted the move.
The administration appears highly determined to position itself for continued legal defeats,wroteLegal expert Joyce Vance, a former U.S. Attorney, seemed to imply that the Pentagon might encounter further legal challenges regarding its decision to restrict journalists.
Rhetoric professor Matthew Boedy alonecalled the move “Orwellian.”
A significant portion of the critical feedback originated from journalists.
Kevin Baron, a veteran journalist specializing in defense matters and the founder of Defense One’s executive editorial team,explainedthat the Pentagon press office is “a large, open-concept workspace, which was intentionally created over 20 years ago to help disseminate information to the public by bringing Department of Defense public affairs personnel and journalists together.”
Does a press office truly exist without the press?asked WFMY editor Jeremy Vernon.
Prohibiting reporters from the *press office* at the Pentagon, where they have previously carried out their duties under past administrations, is merely an indication that the current DOD leadership is afraid of being held responsible,chargedThe New York Times’ Trip Gabriel.
The leaders of the ‘biggest, most fearsome military on Earth,’ as Pete Hegseth put it, are seeking a protected area free from routine public scrutiny,observedThe Washington Post’s Drew Harwell.
That Pete Hegseth, what a tough guy. He can do push-ups during photo opportunities but can’t deal with questions from genuine journalists,wroteChris Bury, a journalist-in-residence at DePaul University.
Imposing additional measures to limit media access within the Pentagon during a time of war seems to me like a negative development,noted The Bulwark’s Sam Stein.
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・The Pentagon’s press secretary’s own sworn testimony reveals the details of the new policy
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