{"id":259,"date":"2026-06-02T16:09:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T16:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=259"},"modified":"2026-06-02T16:09:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T16:09:23","slug":"pentagon-announces-policy-designating-its-press-office-as-a-classified-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=259","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon Announces Policy Designating Its Press Office as a \u201cClassified Area\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Trump administration\u2019s \u201casinine attempts to silence objective journalism just hit a new low,\u201d said one press freedom advocate late Monday after the Pentagon announced that the US Department of Defense would mark its press office as a classified area, banning journalists from the space where they\u2019ve previously talked openly with DOD officials.<\/p>\n

Reporters on the military are currently largely banned from the building altogether as litigation is ongoing over the administration\u2019s requirement that journalists have an escort to move about the Pentagon, but the new policy means that should they be able to return, they would be even more limited in their access to public affairs officers whose job it is to keep the press and public informed.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor multiple administrations, Pentagon reporters have used the press office to meet with public affairs officers and have open conversations about what America\u2019s armed services are doing in order to keep the public informed,\u201d said Ben Grazda, an advocacy manager for Reporters Without Borders North America.<\/p>\n

Calling Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth \u201cpetulant\u201d and pointing to his unsuccessful demand that journalists sign \u201cloyalty pledges,\u201d Grazda added that \u201cjournalists will continue their tenacious reporting and hold the Pentagon accountable for the money, operations, and lives they impact every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Washington Post <\/em>reported that Pentagon speechwriters will be moved into the public affairs office, which will be equipped with the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, or SIPRNet, which is used to transmit classified information.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the most transparent war department in history. No amount of spin from the Fake News media will change that. The Pentagon Press Office has been redesignated as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility due to speechwriters from the Office of the Secretary of War sharing the facility,\u201d said Jose Valdez, the acting Defense Department press secretary, on social media on Monday, referring to Hegseth by the title he prefers.<\/p>\n

Despite Valdez\u2019s claims, journalists referred to the decision as \u201cOrwellian\u201d and noted that Hegseth is further curtailing press access to the Pentagon as the US is mediating talks to end the war the US and Israel started against Iran in February.<\/p>\n

The policy was also announced as The New York Times <\/em>reported that Hegseth had blocked the promotions of nine Navy officers who had been selected by senior Navy admirals, appearing to \u201cviolate the rules governing a promotion system that is supposed to be apolitical and merit-based.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cBanning journalists from the press office in the Pentagon, where they worked professionally in previous administrations, is simply a sign that current DOD leadership fears accountability,\u201d said Times<\/em> reporter Trip Gabriel.<\/p>\n

The decision to close the press office to members of the press comes eight months after hundreds of journalists walked out of the Pentagon in protest of a new policy barring them from seeking information that the Trump administration had not authorized for release.<\/p>\n

That policy was struck down by a federal court earlier this year, but the government has appealed the ruling.<\/p>\n

The National Press Club called the Pentagon\u2019s newest policy \u201ca remarkable and troubling escalation in the Defense Department\u2019s ongoing effort to restrict independent reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis move does not occur in isolation,\u201d said Mark Schoeff Jr., a reporter at CQ Roll Call<\/em> and president of the organization. \u201cIt follows a troubling pattern of escalating restrictions on Pentagon coverage, including efforts to limit journalists to pre-approved information, revoke credentials for routine reporting practices, and physically remove reporters from long-standing workspaces and access without an escort.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCalling a press workspace \u2018classified\u2019 does not make the government more transparent,\u201d said Schoeff. \u201cIt creates yet another obstacle between journalists and the information Americans have a right to know, especially at a moment when the public needs clear, unfiltered information about the US military.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIndependent reporting on the US military is not optional,\u201d he added. \u201cWhen journalists are pushed farther from the institutions they cover, the American people are left with less information, less transparency, and less oversight. Any effort to restrict that access should alarm everyone who values a free and informed society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more New Jersey Governor Acquiesces to DHS, Deploys Police Outside Delaney Hall<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis is the most transparent War Department in history,\u201d a Pentagon official said following the policy barring media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nPentagon Announces Policy Designating Its Press Office as a \u201cClassified Area\u201d - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=259\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pentagon Announces Policy Designating Its Press Office as a \u201cClassified Area\u201d - 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