Military Reporters and Editors (MRE) has significant concerns regarding the Pentagon’s unprecedented attempt to limit reporters’ access by seemingly requiring them to pledge they will not release information not previously approved by government officials.
On Friday afternoon, the Defense Department released a form that reporters must sign to maintain their access to the Pentagon, where reporters have been working for decades in times of peace and war. The contract declares that information from the department “must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.” It also vaguely prohibits conduct “that might serve to disrupt Pentagon operations,” and any “attempt to improperly obtain” classified or unclassified information deemed “controlled.”
Reporters who do not agree to the terms laid out by the Pentagon will have their badges revoked, and no longer have access to the building.
But this is about far more than maintaining access to the Pentagon. Any attempt by the government to limit reporters’ independence or control what they publish should concern all Americans. It is an affront to the First Amendment rights the military has sworn to protect.
The Pentagon press corps has been vital to the public’s understanding of its military and military families. For decades, dedicated reporters have worked inside the Defense Department — wearing required badges and agreeing to standard security protocols — to provide insight to the decisions made there that impact all Americans. Many reporters have lost their lives abroad in the pursuit of that critical mission.
This Pentagon has all but stopped any meaningful communication with the press. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, his chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, and his press secretary, Kingsley Wilson, rarely engage the media despite the recent deployment of U.S. forces to multiple American cities, and ongoing military actions abroad.
The Secretary of Defense and the military are accountable to the American people. A hollowed press corps in the Pentagon will only ensure that fewer answers are provided to the public about how the government spends its taxpayer dollars, where America’s sons and daughters are deploying on behalf of our country and the welfare of military families.
MRE condemns in the strongest possible terms any attempt by this Pentagon or any other entity to curb the press’ freedoms and leave the American public in the dark on what its military is doing at home and abroad.