The Trump administration has ordered 4 left-leaning information organizations together with the New York Occasions and NBC Information to vacate their devoted workplace area on the Pentagon, making room for brand spanking new media shops reminiscent of The Submit and the right-leaning Breitbart Information and One America Information.
The choice was introduced late Friday in a Division of Protection memo issued by spokesman John Ullyot, who wrote that the Occasions, NBC Information, NPR and Politico should relinquish their Pentagon workplace area by Feb. 14.
Based on Ullyot, the transfer is a part of a brand new annual media rotation program designed to permit entry by “a brand new outlet from the identical medium that has not had the distinctive alternative to report as a resident member of the Pentagon press corps.”
As a part of this reshuffle, The Submit will substitute the Occasions as a print outlet, OAN will take NBC Information’ spot as a cable community, Breitbart Information will assume NPR’s function as a radio outlet and HuffPost, owned by BuzzFeed, will take Politico’s area.
HuffPost doesn’t make use of a correspondent who covers the Pentagon, in accordance with the information website.
The memo emphasised that the affected information organizations will nonetheless have entry to Pentagon briefings and stay members of the Pentagon press corps, although they’ll lose their bodily workspace.
“Often called the Correspondents’ Hall, this workplace area loaned to media shops by the secretary of protection stands as a tribute to the significance the division has lengthy positioned on informing the general public concerning the US navy,” the memo acknowledged.
The Trump administration has repeatedly expressed a want to offer higher entry to nontraditional media, together with shops which have been favorable of their protection of the president.
The Pentagon Press Affiliation board, a corporation which represents journalists overlaying navy affairs, blasted the choice.
“We’re significantly troubled by this unprecedented transfer by DOD to single out extremely skilled media who’ve coated the Pentagon for many years, beneath each Republican and Democratic administrations,” the board mentioned in an announcement.
“We’ve requested for a gathering and can preserve everybody knowledgeable.”
The announcement got here only one week after Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s nominee for secretary of protection, was narrowly confirmed. Critics argue that the choice is geared toward favoring conservative media.
Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesman for the Occasions, condemned the transfer, calling it a “regarding growth.”
“The Occasions is dedicated to overlaying the Pentagon absolutely and pretty. Steps designed to impede entry are clearly not within the public curiosity,” he mentioned.
NPR spokeswoman Isabel Lara echoed these considerations, warning that the choice “interferes with the flexibility of tens of millions of Individuals to instantly hear from Pentagon management.”
She urged the Pentagon to broaden media workplace area to make sure equal entry for all information organizations.
Different affected shops voiced related considerations.
Politico’s senior managing editor Anita Kumar known as the choice “troubling,” whereas an NBC Information spokesman expressed disappointment over shedding a broadcasting sales space that had been in use for many years.
In the meantime, the incoming shops welcomed the choice.
A Submit spokeswoman defended the transfer, stating that as a “far-reaching media model,” The Submit deserved a Pentagon presence.
OAN spokesman Charles Herring famous that the community “continues to hunt related entry prolonged to different nationwide tv information shops.”
The reshuffling of Pentagon media entry marks one other chapter within the Trump administration’s strained relationship with the press.
With accusations of press favoritism and considerations over media transparency mounting, the choice is prone to gasoline additional debate over the function of impartial journalism in authorities reporting.