New York Times Defends Photojournalists’ ‘Clear Importance and Public Service’ as Pentagon Bars Access

New York Times photographers were among the photojournalists barred from the Pentagon’s March 4 and March 10 briefings on the war in Iran, TheWrap has learned, as the paper defended the work of photojournalists covering the Defense Department in a statement.

“As The Times has long said: there is a clear importance and public service to allowing journalists to report fully on the U.S. military,” a Times spokesperson told TheWrap on Monday. “This includes photojournalists, who deserve access and credentialing to attend Pentagon briefings.”

The decision to block the Times and other news outlets’ photojournalists from the briefings stemmed from photos published of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from a March 2 press briefing that department staffers deemed “unflattering,” according to the Washington Post. Since that briefing alongside Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, only department photographers have been allowed into briefings.

It also comes after the paper and its reporter, Julian E. Barnes, sued the agency last year over its credentialing policy, which aimed to prevent journalists from soliciting and publishing unauthorized information and which the paper claimed violated the First Amendment. The policy prompted hundreds of credentialed reporters to leave the building, with their slots replaced by several right-wing outlets, though an imminent ruling in the lawsuit could potentially allow the Times and its media colleagues’ credentials to be restored.

The Pentagon rejected the Times’ request to have a photographer at the March 4 briefing, according to a person familiar with the matter. Ahead of the March 10 briefing, the Pentagon told the paper‘s photo desk that it would not permit photographers from any outlet at the briefing. Eric Schmitt, a Times national security correspondent, was present at the March 10 briefing.

A department spokesperson did not respond to a series of questions about barring the Times photographers, but Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson previously told TheWrap that it would only allow one representative from each news outlet not credentialed with the Pentagon to attend briefings “in order to use space in the Pentagon Briefing Room effectively.”

“Photographs from the briefings are immediately released online for the public and press to use,” she said in a statement. “If that hurts the business model for certain news outlets, then they should consider applying for a Pentagon press credential.”

Other outlets barred include wire services such as the AP, Reuters and Getty Images, which take photos and then license them to news outlets worldwide. A Getty spokesperson declined to comment, while representatives for the AP and Reuters did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The National Press Photographers Association, which advocates for photojournalists’ work, also condemned the Pentagon’s decision to bar photojournalists in a statement and said it was “stunning that one of the nation’s highest officials is more concerned with his personal vanity” than the reporting of war briefings, urging news outlets not to use government handout photos of Hegseth.

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