Pentagon displaces major media outlets from dedicated workspaces as part of “Rotation Program”

The US Department of Defense has announced the launch of a new "annual media rotation program" for its in-house press corps.

This will result in several major news outlets, including NBC News, being removed from their Pentagon office spaces in favour of other organisations, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Along with NBC News, The New York Times, National Public Radio, and Politico are required to vacate their dedicated workspaces. The news outlets were informed of the new policy through a memo sent to the press corps, with no individual notifications. The accompanying email included a message stating, "no additional information will be provided at this time."

“For over a half-century, the Pentagon Press Corps has benefited from working out of individual office spaces that provide coveted and open access to some of the Department’s top military and civilian leaders,” read the memo Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot sent to the Pentagon Press Association. 

“In order to broaden access to the limited space of the Correspondents’ Corridor to outlets that have not previously enjoyed the privilege and journalist value of working from physical office space in the Pentagon, beginning February 14, 2025,” Ullyot wrote, there will be “a new Annual Media Rotation Program for those dedicated media spaces.” 

In a statement, NBC News said, “We’re disappointed by the decision to deny us access to a broadcasting booth at the Pentagon that we’ve used for many decades. Despite the significant obstacles this presents to our ability to gather and report news in the national public interest, we will continue to report with the same integrity and rigor NBC News always has.” 

The Pentagon’s decision comes just a week after the Senate narrowly confirmed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, following weeks of media coverage about his behavior and treatment of women. This included allegations that his alcohol consumption concerned colleagues and that his second wife feared for her safety around him. Hegseth has denied these allegations. 

NBC News reported on some of the claims against Hegseth. The memo outlined the new rotating system, specifying that one organization from each media type—TV, print, radio, and online—would be swapped in and out. It also stated that news organizations required to vacate their spaces had two weeks to do so. 

The new outlets rotating in include One America News Network, which will replace NBC News, as well as the New York Post, Breitbart News, and HuffPost. Three of these new outlets are conservative, while HuffPost is more progressive in its leanings. HuffPost, however, does not have a Pentagon correspondent and did not request a space, according to spokesperson Lizzie Grams.

By Naila Huseynova