Opinion: Why I'm handing in my Pentagon press pass
toggle caption Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Today, NPR will lose access to the Pentagon because we will not sign an unprecedented Defense Department document, which warns that journalists may lose their press credentials for "soliciting" even unclassified information from federal employees that has not been officially approved for release. That policy prevents us from doing our job. Signing that document would make us stenographers parroting press releases, not watchdogs holding government officials accountable.
No reputable news organization signed the new rule — not mainstream outlets like NPR, the Washington Post, CNN, and the New York Times, nor the conservative Washington Times or the right-wing Newsmax, run by a noted ally of President Trump. Some 100 resident Pentagon press will be barred from the building if they don't sign by the end of business on Tuesday.
I've held my Pentagon press pass for 28 years.
Continue Reading on NPR
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.