The U.S. Defense Department will remove media offices from the Pentagon after a federal judge sided with The New York Times in a lawsuit challenging limits on reporters’ access to the building, a department official announced Monday.
An area of the Pentagon known as “Correspondents’ Corridor” that reporters have used for decades to cover the U.S. military will close immediately, department spokesperson Sean Parnell said. Journalists will eventually be able to work from an “annex” outside the building, which he said “will be available when ready.” He offered no detail about how long that will take.
The Pentagon Press Association said the announcement “is a clear violation of the letter and spirit of last week’s ruling.”
My understanding is that there’s long been an unspoken agreement that the government lets the media play indoors so long as they play by the government’s rules. Without that access they can report the news more - let’s say “honestly” - but they can get inside access anymore. It’s a catch 22 that everybody’s taken for granted for a long time now.