For
decades,
the
defense
trade
media
has
been
a
trusted
source
of
news
and
insight
about
Defense
Department
programs,
budgets,
and
strategy.
Ethical,
accurate,
and
timely
reporting
makes
that
possible.
The
public,
industry,
and
indeed
the
department
itself
benefit
from
granting
credentialed
defense
reporters
access
to unclassified
areas in
the
Pentagon
and
from
the
trust
engendered
by
that
access.
The
Pentagon
has
been
seeking
to
impose
unprecedented
restrictions
on
journalists’
ability
to
cover
the
military
for
several
months.
Having
restricted
where
unescorted
media
may
go
in
the
Pentagon—such
that
even
visiting
the
public
affairs
offices
of
the
military
services
now
requires
an
escort—department
leaders
are
asking
reporters
to
sign
a
document
acknowledging
a
vague
new
policy
that,
on
its
face,
appears
to
contravene
the
First
Amendment.
This
policy
threatens
to
punish
reporters
who
ask
legitimate
questions
in
the
course
of
their
daily
work
and
to
impose
material
harm
on
our
news
organizations
for
factual
reporting.
Journalists
from
the
undersigned
defense
trade
publications
will
not
sign
this
new
policy.
Our
newsrooms
will
continue
to
cover
topics
of
military,
defense,
and
national
security
fairly
and
independently.
-
Breaking
Defense -
Aviation
Week -
Defense
&
Aerospace
Report -
Defense
Daily -
Defense
One -
Defense
News -
Inside
Defense -
Military
Times - USNI