Overview
- The New York Times and its Pentagon reporter Julian E. Barnes filed a federal lawsuit in Washington on Monday that targets a March policy requiring advance notice and a staff escort for any newsroom visit.
- The newspaper calls the escort mandate an unconstitutional burden that retaliates against critical coverage and blocks independent reporting from inside the building.
- Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell says the rule is lawful and designed to guard national security by preventing unlawful disclosure of classified information.
- The new suit follows a December case in which a judge struck down key parts of earlier access rules, while an appeals panel kept the escort requirement in place during the appeal, so the policy still applies.
- The Pentagon also closed a long-standing media workspace and adopted measures that allow officials to label reporters security risks and revoke badges, shifting the press corps toward outlets that accept the restrictions while others now report from outside.