(Washington) The Pentagon on Monday tightened restrictions on journalists covering defense issues, days after a court ruled that its previous accreditation policy for journalists was unconstitutional.
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This new measure against the media joins a series of actions by President Donald Trump and senior officials against journalists and media outlets accused of spreading false information when their reporting displeases the administration.
A US federal judge on Friday blocked the Pentagon’s new policy limiting press access, which resulted in the withdrawal of accreditations from most major media outlets.
The Pentagon responded by imposing even stricter restrictions, announcing Monday that it would close a press area called the “correspondents’ corridor” and that “any access by journalists to the Pentagon must be under escort by authorized personnel from the Department” of Defense.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell cited security risks to justify the change. He also indicated that the Pentagon would appeal the court’s decision.
“Effective immediately, the ‘correspondents’ corridor’ is closed,” Parnell wrote on X. He said a new press workspace would be created “in an annex outside the main Pentagon building, but still on the Pentagon grounds.”
The Washington-based National Press Club said the new policy limited journalists’ ability to do their jobs.
“Closing the ‘correspondents’ corridor’ and imposing escorted access undermines independent journalism at the Pentagon at a time when the public needs clear, unfiltered information about the U.S. military,” National Press Club President Mark Schoeff Jr. said in a statement.
Last fall, media accredited to the Pentagon were asked to comply with new restrictive rules. Most refused and lost their access.
Previously, the Pentagon had required journalists to be escorted into the building outside a limited number of areas, removed some media from their permanent offices, and drastically reduced press conferences.
Recently, it was the photographers who were deprived of it – after certain photos were not to Pete Hegseth’s taste, according to the American press.
