Pentagon media policy sends ‘message of intimidation,’ media group says

Zoom: The press association said in its Wednesday statement that the revised rules shared Monday would require journalists to approve policies that could potentially expose them to prosecution for “simply doing (their) job.”

• Journalists who attempt to research information not yet available for official publication, even in unclassified cases, would risk losing their credentials for exercising their First Amendment rights, PPA wrote.
• “This policy sends an unprecedented message of intimidation to all DoD personnel, warning against unapproved interactions with the press and even suggesting that it is criminal to speak without express permission – which is clearly not the case,” according to the PPA statement.

What they say: Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said Wednesday night on X that the Defense Department “has engaged in good faith negotiations” with the association, “maintaining an open dialogue with its members and agreeing to many of their suggested changes.”

• “The only change is a long-overdue update to our accreditation process, which has not been revised in years, if not decades, to align with modern security standards. Such procedures are standard at military establishments around the world, and the Pentagon is no exception,” he added.

• “Access to the Pentagon is a privilege, not a right, and the Department is not only legally authorized, but morally obligated to impose reasonable regulations on the exercise of this privilege.”

Read the statement in full, via DocumentCloud:

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