The Defense Department said Monday it will remove media outlets’ office spaces from the Pentagon after a federal judge sided with The New York Times in a lawsuit challenging limits on reporters’ access to the building.
An area of the Pentagon known as “Correspondents’ Corridor” that reporters have used for decades to cover the U.S. military will close immediately, department spokesperson Sean Parnell said. Journalists will eventually be able to work from an “annex” outside the building, which he said “will be available when ready.” He offered no details about how long that will take.
The New York Times quickly responded by arguing the decision violated the judge’s order and was unconstitutional. Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander said in a statement: “We will be going back to court.”
The Pentagon Press Association called the policy a “clear violation of the letter and spirit of last week’s ruling.”
“At such a critical time, we ask why the Pentagon is choosing to restrict vital press freedoms that help inform all Americans,” the group wrote in a statement, referring to the war with Iran and the recent U.S. operation in Venezuela.
The new policy is the latest dispute over press access during President Trump’s administration, which has limited legacy media while boosting conservative outlets.
Dozens of reporters — including from CBS News, ABC News, NBC News, CNN and Fox News — gave up their Pentagon credentials last fall, after the military required journalists to sign onto a host of new restrictions in order to maintain daily access to the building. The policy suggested that reporters who “solicit” classified or sensitive information from military personnel could be deemed a security risk and barred from the building.
The Times sued the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in December, claiming the agency’s new credentialing policy violated journalists’ constitutional rights to free speech and due process.
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in Washington, D.C., last week sided with the newspaper. He ordered the Pentagon to reinstate the press credentials of seven Times journalists and struck down some of the agency’s restrictions on news reporting, including the policy on soliciting information.
Friedman said the “undisputed evidence” shows that the policy was designed to weed out “disfavored journalists” and replace them with those who are “on board and willing to serve” the government, in what he viewed as an instance of illegal viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment. He also said the policy was unconstitutionally vague, and it wasn’t clear to reporters what kinds of conduct do and don’t violate the rules.
Parnell said the Defense Department disagrees with the ruling and is pursuing an appeal. He said security concerns prompted restrictions on press access, a claim that journalists have pushed back on.
Under the latest Pentagon rules announced Monday, journalists will still have access to the Pentagon for press conferences and interviews arranged through the department’s public affairs team, but they will have to be escorted, Parnell wrote on social media.
The policy that was enacted last year also had new restrictions on which parts of the building journalists could access. Friedman did not strike down those portions.
The current Pentagon press corps comprises mostly conservative outlets that agreed to last year’s policy. Reporters from outlets that refused to consent to the new rules have continued reporting on the military.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pentagon-new-press-credentials-remove-media-offices/
