The Pentagon Press Association said its negotiations with the Defense Dept. over new restrictions "have not been as successful as we had hoped."

In September, the Defense Department sent reporters a memo saying that they’d be required to sign a document acknowledging they would not disclose either classified or controlled unclassified information that is not formally authorized for publication. It warned Pentagon reporters they could lose their press credentials for “unauthorized access, attempted unauthorized access, or unauthorized disclosure” of classified information or anything designated as “controlled unclassified information.”

Compliance with the directive would mean that journalists would not be able to use unnamed U.S. military sources in much of their reporting without risking loss of access to the Pentagon.

Many media outlets balked at the directive and vowed to push back. The New York Times said in a statement the restrictions were “at stark odds with the constitutional protections of a free press in a democracy.”

  • Riskable@programming.devEnglish
    18·
    11 days ago

    They really don’t understand reporting if they’re being like this. Reporters don’t need access inside the Pentagon. They can get whatever TF they want through leaks from trusted sources.

    By letting the reporters in, they can keep an eye on them and see who they’re talking to. That way, when there’s a leak that they don’t like they can review the logs and have a slightly higher chance of catching the leaker.

    Denying credentials to reporters (en mass) is a one-way ticket to chaos.

    • Frezik@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      10·
      11 days ago

      There’s even arguments out there that they don’t need that access. The White House/Pentagon can put out whatever they want, and it’s just part of the larger box of open source intelligence. IIRC, Bob Woodward (of Watergate investigation fame) didn’t bother with trying to get access to specific higher ups at all. Mark Felt (Deepthroat) came to him, and the rest is all out in the open if you’re willing to dig.

    • BigPotato@lemmy.world
      4·
      11 days ago

      The entire public affairs career field knows this. It’s how you can tell VP Bowman sucked at his job - the reporters will show up to a firefight with Special Forces. They don’t need to hear it from you.