NEW YORK: The New York Times on Thursday filed a lawsuit challenging the Pentagon’s new restrictive media policy, saying it was unconstitutional and asking a court to block its implementation.
US and international news outlets, including AFP, AP, Fox News and the Times declined to sign the new policy in mid-October, meaning they were stripped of their Pentagon credentials.
The Pentagon 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,” according to the Times’ complaint.