The Pentagon is barring journalists from its press office after redesignating the space as a secure, classified area. Multiple outlets report that the Defense Department has declared the press office “off limits” to reporters by designating it a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), a type of location used for handling classified material. Acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez confirmed the change, saying it is not controversial and relates to the office’s new occupants. He said speechwriters now occupy the space and that they routinely handle classified material, so journalists will no longer be permitted to enter. The outlets describe this as part of a broader pattern of steps that restrict media access at the Pentagon. One report notes that the redesignation followed previous long-standing access by journalists to the Pentagon press office, where they could approach public affairs officials without escorts. The change is also reported in the context of ongoing tensions between the U.S. media and the administration, including public disputes and legal challenges. The Pentagon’s public affairs office continues to handle press interactions under the revised access rules.
Pentagon bars journalists from press office after redesignating it a classified SCIF
The Pentagon is barring journalists from its press office after redesignating the space as a secure, classified area. Multiple outlets report that the Defense Department has declared the press office...
- The Pentagon redesignates its press office as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF).
- Journalists are barred from entering the Pentagon press office after the redesignation.
- Acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez confirms the change and says it is related to classified material handling.
- Valdez says speechwriters now occupy the space and routinely work with classified information.
- The move is described by multiple outlets as part of broader restrictions on media access at the Pentagon.
Reporters have been barred from the Pentagon press office after the Trump administration this week declared it a "Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility."
2 months agoThe Pentagon is escalating its fight with the media by banning journalists from its own press office. They’ve done so by designating the space as classified, even as a legal battle over media access to the building continues. SCOOP: The Pentagon has banned journalists from its press office, designating it a classified space. The change […] By The Canary
2 months agoThe Trump administration’s “attempts to silence objective journalism just hit a new low,” 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’ve previously talked openly with DOD officials. Reporters on the military are currently largely banned from […] The post Pentagon bans reporters from public affairs office appeared first on Asia Times.
2 months agoThe Pentagon has barred journalists from entering its press office after redesignating the space as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), a secure area used for handling classified information.
2 months agoActing Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez confirmed the move, saying there was “nothing controversial” about it and that it came because speechwriters, who use classified material, were now occupying the space
2 months agoIn another of a series of moves restricting media access at the Pentagon, the Defense Department has declared that its press office is now a classified space inaccessible to journalists. On X, acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez confirmed the move, saying there was "nothing controversial" about it and that it came because speechwriters, who use classified material, were now occupying the space. "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," Valdez wrote. "These speechwriters routinely handle classified material as a result, journalists will no longer be permitted to enter the office space. There's nothing controversial about that." The latest move, first reported by The Washington Post, took place against a backdrop of escalating tensions between the U.S. media and the second Trump administration, which has played out both in the public ar
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