(WASHINGTON)– The Pentagon’s decision to convert its press office into classified space and bar journalists from entering is the latest maneuver to restrict independent scrutiny of the largest federal agency, PEN America said today. The decision comes as the Pentagon is waging a legal battle to maintain unprecedented restrictions on press access during ongoing litigation over those policies.
“In banning the press from the press office, of all places, the Defense Department has once again chosen secrecy over transparency and accountability. This move appears designed to ensure that even if the courts succeed in restoring press access, the Pentagon will have already walled off a critical reporting space,” said Tim Richardson, journalism and disinformation program director at PEN America. “It’s not the first time that, when faced with legal challenges to its unconstitutional press restrictions, Pentagon leadership has moved the goalposts rather than allow the press to inform the public about what’s happening inside the building. The Defense Department should stop restricting press access through bureaucratic maneuvers designed to erode the independent oversight it seems to fear.”
The Pentagon’s most recent assault on a free press comes after it forced out most of the press corps last year for refusing to acquiesce to sweeping restrictions on standard reporting practices. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman ruled in March that parts of the Trump administration’s changes to the Pentagon’s press policy were unconstitutional and struck them down as viewpoint discrimination, then determined in April that the Pentagon violated that order. The Pentagon is also interfering in the editorial independence of the Stars and Stripes newsroom, recently firing the ombudsman who served in a role that Congress established to safeguard the publication’s independence. Meanwhile, the agency has also banned photojournalists from Iran war briefings over photos it deemed ‘unflattering.’
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, [email protected], (201) 247-5057