Pentagon's Revised Press Guidelines Anger Reporters

New guidelines for engaging the press have generated animosity between the Pentagon’s communications arm and reporters.

The guidelines, included in a memo from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, now requires military and civilian officers to notify the DoD’s Public Affairs office before holding interviews pertaining to subjects determined to have national or international significance.

Reporters fear that the new rules could produce a chilling effect between the press and the military and stem the flow of breaking news. A series of tense exchanges between reporters and Pentagon spokespeople have taken place after the memo came to light.

The Pentagon appears to be unsettled by the harsh response the new rules have received. Earlier this week, Captain John Kirby, a spokesperson for Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, advised reporters to withhold their reaction until the effects of the guidelines could be felt.

On Thursday, Gates defended the new guidelines and explained that the rules were aimed more toward ensuring responsibility and accountability within the Defense Department than the press.

“This is not about you,” Gates said to the reporters in the Pentagon’s briefing room. “This is about us.”

Noted the Secretary, “I have grown increasingly concerned that we have become too lax, disorganized, and, in some cases, flat-out sloppy in the way we engage with the press.”