The Department of Defense is facing sharp criticism over its latest policy that bans reporters from the Pentagon press office, which it has now designated as a classified space.
“The change creates a new barrier compared with previous administrations, under which the office was an open room where reporters could stop by the desks of military public affairs officials without escorts,” The Washington Post reports.
“The Pentagon Press Office has been redesignated as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility due to speechwriters from the Office of the Secretary of War sharing the facility,” acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez said in a statement to The Washington Post, the paper reported.
“These speechwriters routinely handle classified material and require SIPRNet access,” Valdez added. “As a result, journalists will no longer be permitted to enter the office space.”
This “latest designation,” the Post also reported, “creates a scenario in which even if journalists are able to access the Pentagon, their ability to interact with the department’s spokespeople will be reduced.”
Critics blasted the move.
“The administration seems very committed to setting itself up to continue losing in court,” wrote legal analyst Joyce Vance, a former U.S. Attorney. Vance appeared to be suggesting the Pentagon would face another court battle over its move to ban reporters.
Rhetoric professor Matthew Boedy simply called the move “Orwellian.”
Some of the most targeted criticism came from journalists themselves.
Kevin Baron, a longtime defense reporter and the founding executive editor of Defense One, explained that the Pentagon press office is a “giant, open-plan office space, that was specifically designed 20+ years ago to facilitate informing the public by locating Department of Defense public affairs officers and media together.”
“Is it really a press office without the press?” asked WFMY editor Jeremy Vernon.
“Banning journalists from the *press office* in the Pentagon, where they worked professionally in previous administrations, is simply a sign that current DOD leadership fears accountability,” charged The New York Times’ Trip Gabriel.
“The leaders of the ‘biggest, most badass military on the planet,’ in Pete Hegseth’s words, want a safe space from basic public questioning,” observed the Washington Post’s Drew Harwell.
“That Pete Hegseth, what a tough guy. He can do push-ups in photo ops but can’t handle questions from real reporters,” wrote Chris Bury, a DePaul University journalist in residence.
“Taking steps to further restrict press access in the Pentagon during the midst of a war strikes me as a bad thing,” noted The Bulwark’s Sam Stein.
