WASHINGTON - A group that lobbies on behalf of Pentagon reporters on Oct 8 harshly criticised new rules released by the Defence Department that could lead to the revocation of press credentials.
"Limiting the media's ability to report on the US military fails to honour the American families who have entrusted their sons and daughters to serve in it, or the taxpayers responsible for giving the department hundreds of billions of dollars a year," a statement from the group, the Pentagon Press Association, said. There are approximately 90 journalists with credentials to cover the Pentagon.
Representatives of news organisations have been negotiating with the Pentagon since the department first released a set of new rules in a lengthy memo dated Sept 18. The rules represent a major departure from how reporting at the Pentagon has worked for decades.
The memo said that the Pentagon was committed to transparency and accountability, but it also laid out a set of strictures that immediately drew criticism from news organisations. One of its provisions was widely interpreted as requiring reporters to seek approval from the government for their coverage. Failure to comply could lead to a revocation of press passes.
Mr Seth Stern, director of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said at the time that the policy "operates as a prior restraint on publication which is considered the most serious of First Amendment violations."
The agency responded on Oct 6 with a revised policy. The new version says that approval requirements for releasing information are binding for government officials, not journalists.
Journalists who cover the military were given one week to decide whether to sign a form certifying that they had received, read and understood the agency's policy. Also included was an amendment noting that journalists who signed did not "necessarily" agree with the policy's provisions - a change that the press group applauded in its statement.
Yet the group otherwise denounced "policies that appear designed to stifle a free press."
One of the primary concerns for news outlets in the latest round of restrictions is a section that outlines circumstances where journalists could be deemed security risks to the Pentagon - a finding that could result in the loss of credentials. Unauthorised disclosure of classified information or certain unclassified information is among the considerations that could factor into the determination of a security risk.
The policy acknowledges that the First Amendment "generally" protects news organisations when they publish such information on an "unsolicited" basis. However, the revised policy contains language that worries news media lawyers, including a line in the document that reads, "The First Amendment does not permit journalists to solicit government employees to violate the law by providing confidential government information."
This year, Mr Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defence, moved several national outlets from their work spaces in the building - and offered them to conservative outlets - and restricted the movement of journalists without official escorts.
Mr Gabe Rottman, vice-president of policy at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said in a statement, "The fact is we still have concerns with the updated language of the policy and expect that it will pose a significant impediment as journalists weigh with their employers whether or not to sign this revised version."
The Pentagon press group ended its letter by saying, "We hope the Pentagon reconsiders."
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a question about whether it would adjust the policy.