The Pentagon media covering the US military will face new restrictions on the information they are authorized to report or deal with a loss of access to the Pentagon, according to memo officials distributed to journalists on Friday.
Press members will have to sign a document recognizing that they should not disclose classified or unused controlled information which is not officially authorized for the publication, explains the defense ministry, that the Trump administration renamed The Ministry of War. He indicates that Pentagon journalists can lose their press identification information for “unauthorized access, an unauthorized access attempt or unauthorized disclosure” of classified information or all that is designated as “controlled non -classified information”.
The memo also indicates that “DOW information must be approved before public release … Even if it is not classified.”
Respect for the directive would mean that journalists could not use anonymous American military sources in much of their reports without risking losing access to the Pentagon.
The movements of journalists in the Pentagon will also be more limited. Journalists will need an official escort in a large part of the installation, even with a press pass.
In May, the Pentagon informed journalists that he intended to impose new restrictions intended to reduce leaks or “unauthorized disclosure” and began to demand that journalists be escorted throughout the building. Friday memo formalizes the previous guidelines and includes a pentagon card detailing the entirely prohibited areas and which require an escort. The previous memo has not included restrictions on information sources.
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“The ‘Press’ does not direct the Pentagon – people do it,” published the defense secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday evening. “The press is no longer allowed to browse the corridors of a secure installation. Wear a badge and follow the rules – or go home.”
The Pentagon Press Association Board said in a statement that he was aware of the new directive and examined it.
The president of the National Press Club, Mike Balsamo, described the new regulations “direct assault on independent journalism”.
“If the news of our soldiers must first be approved by the government, the public no longer obtains independent reports,” Balsamo said in a statement. “This only does what civil servants want them to see. It should alarm each American.”
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement to the New York Times that the guidelines were “in accordance with all other military bases in the country” and said they were “fundamental and common sense directives to protect sensitive information”.
