Overview
- Photographers from wire services including the Associated Press, Reuters and Getty shot the March 2 briefing, after which staffers privately described some images of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as unflattering, according to the Washington Post’s anonymous sources.
- Photographers were not allowed into the March 4 and March 10 briefings, and only Department of Defense staff photographers have been permitted since then, while video cameras continue to be allowed.
- Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said only one representative per uncredentialed outlet is being admitted to use the briefing room effectively, adding that official photos are posted online and urging outlets to apply for Pentagon credentials.
- The move affects globally distributed wire photos and has intensified a broader fight over the Pentagon’s October 2025 credentialing rules that many mainstream outlets refused to sign, leading to a reconstituted on-site press corps.
- Press organizations including the National Press Club and the National Press Photographers Association condemned the restriction as harmful to transparency, as The New York Times presses a related lawsuit over access following a hearing last week.