No One Is Revoking Pentagon Access
Media outlets refusing to sign the new “Physical Control Measures for Press/Media Access Within the Pentagon” is troubling to say the least, particularly since it’s all major outlets with the exception of OAN (One America News).
In the augmented words of Shakespeare, I think the media doth protest too much.
Having read the documentation of old and new media rules included in The New York Time’s article “How the Pentagon Is Blocking Out News Organizations,” I found nothing objectionable in the language.1 What actually puzzles me the most is that the old documents are merely a page long and incredibly vague. I’ve signed apartment leases and employment contacts more thorough than the rules for THE MOST SECURE BUILDING IN OUR COUNTRY. Particularly with the press bemoaning being held to reasonable standards, it makes you wonder what sort of illicit activity has transpired completely unchecked over the years.
The vast majority of the document reads as language to clarify existing policies so that there can be no uncertainty for the press or Pentagon employees and contractors. If the media weren’t throwing such a tantrum, I would interpret the revisions to the rules as greater guidelines for military members so that they don’t inadvertently, “Face potentially severe consequences for disclosing non-public information without proper authorization,” as stated on page four of the new policies. This change seems like protection for those who work at the Pentagon so that they don’t face criminal liability more than an attack on freedom of the press.
image credit: U.S. Department of Defense (2012)
