As per a lawsuit filed Thursday (US time), The New York Times is suing the Pentagon, as indicated in top US reports, including the Associated Press. The legal sweep is a direct hit to America’s Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s imposition of new rules targeting mainstream media outlets in the country.
In addition to Hegseth being name-dropped in the suit, the lawsuit also lists the Defence Department and the chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, as defendants in the case. As per the new press policy, reporters’ press passes could be revoked if they publish any information without the Defence Department’s prior approval. The rules restricted news networks from pushing out even information that is unclassified.
For the unversed, the Pentagon is the headquarters of the US Department of Defence in Virginia.
NYT vs Pentagon – What does the lawsuit say?
The Times is “vigorously” seeking to overturn the press crackdown policy that came into effect in October. The American news outlet’s suit alleges that the brand-new rules are restrictive in nature, as they require reporters to wait for approval before publishing anything.
Consequently, The Times has slammed the Pentagon’s press policy for violating protections upheld for the press by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
And so, the NYT lawsuit is now urging a federal judge to stop the Pentagon from letting this policy continue, hoping for it to be declared unconstitutional.
“The policy, in violation of the First Amendment, seeks to restrict journalists’ ability to do what journalists have always done — ask questions of government employees and gather information to report stories that take the public beyond official pronouncements,” the suit notes, as per CNBC’s quotes.
The Times has further red-flagged the rules, “deprive the public of vital information about the United States military and its leadership.” Charles Stadlander, spokesman for the outlet, said, “The policy is an attempt to exert control over reporting the government dislikes,” as per AP’s report.
US media vs the Defence Department, Pentagon
The lawsuit, in turn, follows reporters from five major news networks staging a walkout in October.
“Today, we join virtually every other news organization in declining to agree to the Pentagon’s new requirements, which would restrict journalists’ ability to keep the nation and the world informed of important national security issues,” NBC News said in a joint statement with ABC News, CBS News, CNN and Fox News Media at the time.
“The policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections. We will continue to cover the U.S. military as each of our organisations has done for many decades, upholding the principles of a free and independent press.”
Networks that refused to bow down to these rules ultimately lost their Pentagon credentials. Quite a few, including The Times, voluntarily surrendered their press access to the Pentagon. Such outlets continue to question Pete Hegseth and the recent military strikes on boats the Trump government claims to be smuggling drugs.
As a result, the Pentagon press room now largely features conservative outlets that are abiding by the rules in place. Those representing these organisations were even in attendance at a briefing with Hegseth’s press secretary earlier this week.
How are Pete Hegseth, Defence Dept responding to the NYT lawsuit?
Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell told CNBC that the Defence Department was “aware” of the lawsuit in question and would be addressing the arguments in court.