The New York Times newspaper on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon, seeking to overturn new rules introduced by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, which led to a ban on most major media outlets from being in the building, UNN reports.
Details
The newspaper stated that the new rules violate constitutional free speech and due process provisions because they give Hegseth the right to unilaterally decide whether a reporter should be banned from working. Outlets like the Times left the Pentagon, disagreeing with the rules as a condition of receiving press accreditation.
Instead, the Trump administration filled the Pentagon press room with mostly conservative outlets that agreed to the rules and participated in a briefing with Hegseth's press secretary on Tuesday.
"This policy is an attempt to control coverage of what the government doesn't like," said Charles Stadtlander, a spokesman for the newspaper. The Times filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
Many still write about the Pentagon "from afar"
Despite losing accreditation, outlets that have been denied access to the Pentagon continue to report on the activities of the American military. Last week, they led the coverage of stories that questioned Hegseth's role in military strikes on boats with suspected drug smugglers, including one that was struck a second time after survivors were found.
Nevertheless, the Times stated that denying access to the Pentagon limits its reporters' ability to do their jobs. Since the new policy gives Hegseth the right to remove reporters working on stories he doesn't like, even if they don't contain classified information, it has a negative impact on journalists, the newspaper argued in court documents. Lawyers are also concerned that similar restrictions will be implemented in other federal agencies.
The Pentagon argued that the policy imposes "common sense" rules that protect the military from disclosing information that could put them in danger. During her briefing on Tuesday, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson stated that traditional media outlets are not failing.
"The American people don't trust these propagandists because they've stopped telling the truth," Wilson said. "So we're not going to beg these old gatekeepers to come back, and we're not rebuilding a broken model just to appease them."
Access denied to media outlets covering millions of people
Several news agencies whose coverage reaches millions of people, including the Associated Press, the Washington Post, and CNN, contacted the Pentagon on Tuesday to request access to Wilson's briefing but were denied, stating that it was only for accredited journalists.