Loss of Access

DHS issues rule restricting duration of I visas for foreign journalists

The Department of Homeland Security announced it was restricting the duration of the I visa — which foreign journalists use to stay in and report on the U.S. — to a period of eight months. (Chinese reporters are limited to a stay of three months.) Previously, most foreign journalists were allowed to use the visa to stay as long as they needed to complete their reporting assignment. That flexibility gave foreign journalists the stability needed to accept jobs at their outlets’ American bureaus and potentially stay for several years, developing their sources and expertise to sharpen their reporting. DHS also made changes to the F visa for students and the J visa for visitors participating in cultural exchanges; foreign nationals have used both visas to study journalism in the U.S. 

Journalists kicked out of Freedom 250 event hosted U.S. embassies in Brussels

The European Correspondent editor-in-chief Julius E. O. Fintelmann and defense editor Samuel Dempsey were detained and questioned while covering a Freedom 250 event in Brussels and were later kicked out. The event, organized by three American embassies, was meant to celebrate the U.S.’s 250th birthday, and the European Correspondent had been invited as press. At the event, Dempsey and Fintelmann tried to ask a question to Bill White, the U.S. ambassador to Belgium,  but a person at the event said they were not allowed to do so. Twenty minutes later, Belgian police detained Dempsey and Fintelmann and confiscated their IDs. Dempsey and Fintelmann learned that the police had been told that Dempsey was an “active threat.” Even after police established that they were journalists invited to the event, the embassy refused to let them back in. 

Pentagon proposes weakening FOIA to allow for the withholding of certain unclassified records

The Pentagon submitted a legislative proposal to Congress advocating for the Freedom of Information Act to be revised so that the defense secretary could withhold from disclosure certain “controlled unclassified information” related to national security. The proposal also would give the defense secretary the power to prevent state and local governments from releasing such information under their own records disclosure laws. Press freedom advocates have criticized the proposal as extremely broad, as “controlled unclassified information” is a designation given to many different types of documents that may be sensitive but not classified. The Freedom of the Press Foundation’s Lauren Harper said if adopted, the proposal could cause hundreds of millions of records to be concealed indefinitely since, unlike classified information — which is usually subject to disclosure after 25 years — unclassified information has no such expiration date.

Pentagon bans reporters from press office

The Pentagon has barred journalists from accessing its press office, which it has deemed a classified space, The Washington Post reported. Previously, reporters were permitted to freely enter the office to speak with Defense Department spokespeople. Now, they can only enter if they have an appointment. The Pentagon justified the move by stating that the office now hosts department speechwriters, who work with classified material. However, press freedom advocates note that the change is just the latest attempt by the department to restrict journalists’ access. The Pentagon has previously kicked mainstream outlets out of dedicated workspaces in favor of conservative ones, required reporters to be accompanied escorts while inside the building and banned news photographers from press briefings.

U.S. government tells satellite firm to withhold Iran images

Satellite company Planet Labs announced it would indefinitely withhold all imagery of Iran and surrounding regions in the Middle East until the end of the war, at the request of the U.S. government. Images stretching back to March 9 would be affected. Journalists and academics who rely on Planet Labs’ satellite imagery expressed concern about the policy because it would inhibit their ability to independently report on and research the war’s impact, the BBC reported. The company had initially instituted a 14-day delay on releasing imagery of the region to prevent “adversarial actors” from targeting American personnel and its allies, as well as civilians. 

Defense Department closes media workspaces in Pentagon

The Pentagon will close its workspaces used by credentialed journalists and instead open up a new press area outside the main building, according to a memo by Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell. Journalists will also be required to have an escort if they wish to access the building. The new rules come just a few days after a federal judge ordered the Department of Defense to restore press passes to journalists from The New York Times, which had sued the department over media restrictions it had implemented last fall. Those restrictions — which essentially required journalists to agree not to publish any information without the Pentagon’s approval — led to dozens of reporters from legacy outlets giving up their press credentials. Instead, partisan content creators and conservative outlets took their spots. 

More from Poynter:

• The New York Times draws a line on Pentagon press limits
• Real reporters left the Pentagon. A new partisan crew just took their seats.
• A united media stands up against the Pentagon’s press restrictions
• The Pentagon revised its media restrictions. They’re just as bad for press freedom, experts say.

Pentagon bans press photographers from briefings over ‘unflattering’ photos

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth banned news photographers from attending at least two press briefings after they published photos of him that he disliked, The Washington Post reported. The “unflattering” photos came from a March 2 briefing about the Iran War, in which photographers from multiple outlets including The Associated Press and Reuters were present. In two subsequent briefings, only Defense Department photographers were permitted to be in the room. This was not the first time Hegseth has limited press access to the Pentagon. In September, the Pentagon issued new press restrictions that drove out nearly all credentialed reporters there. A new group of journalists and content creators — many of whom worked with outlets sympathetic to President Donald Trump — agreed to the restrictions and moved in instead. 

More from Poynter:

• You won’t believe why the Pentagon barred photographers from its briefings

Department of the Interior blacklists SFGate over National Parks coverage

The Department of the Interior’s public affairs office instructed employees not to respond to inquiries from SFGate following a series of critical articles about its operations in the National Parks, the outlet reported. Dozens of inquiries to the Department of the Interior and the Park Service received no response. A department spokesperson denied blacklisting the publication, stating that SFGate has “distorted the facts and has caused confusion with their reporting.” But anonymous employees told SFGate that they had been told not to respond to the outlet’s inquiries and that it was the only outlet they knew of that was being targeted. 

FAA bans drones from flying near Department of Homeland Security buildings and vehicles

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a security advisory prohibiting drones from flying within 3,000 feet laterally and 1,000 feet vertically of Department of Homeland Security facilities and vehicles, including unmarked cars. Violators could face criminal charges and civil penalties. The advisory came amid ongoing turmoil in Minneapolis, where the DHS was conducting one of its largest ever immigration operations. Journalists and press freedom advocates condemned the advisory, stating that it could be used to target drone photojournalists who had no way of knowing if their drones were in violation of the advisory.

White House restricts journalists’ access to certain press office spaces

The White House issued a memo announcing that journalists are no longer allowed to access West Wing offices belonging to senior communications staff without an appointment. Among the off-limits offices are those belonging to press secretary Karoline Leavitt and communications director Steven Cheung. Reporters are still permitted to access offices belonging to lower-level staff next to the briefing room. The memo justified the new restrictions as necessary to protect “sensitive material.” On X, Cheung alleged that reporters had been caught eavesdropping on and recording private meetings. The White House Correspondents’ Association, however, argued that the spaces had “long been open” and that the new rules would make it more difficult for journalists to question officials. The move echoed a similar one taken by the Pentagon in May to limit the spaces journalists were permitted to access without an escort.

Pentagon doubles down on media restrictions

After receiving pushback for its first attempt to restrict the information journalists covering the Department of Defense can report, the Pentagon doubled down and released a new, clarified version of its media guidelines. The new version clarified that employees of the Department of War (President Donald Trump’s new moniker for the Defense Department) — not journalists — are not permitted to release information that has not been preapproved. The previous version, released in September, had left that distinction unclear. The new version, however, goes on to state that journalists cannot solicit Defense Department employees to disclose such information, and even general calls for tips would put them in violation of the rules and could result in them losing their press credentials. Press freedom advocates have said that the restrictions are overly broad since they apply to information that is neither classified nor sensitive.    

More from Poynter:

• The Pentagon revised its media restrictions. They’re just as bad for press freedom, experts say.
• A united media stands up against the Pentagon’s press restrictions

Pentagon prohibits credentialed journalists from publishing unauthorized information

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced in a memo to reporters that the Pentagon would revoke their press credentials if they do not pledge to refrain from publishing information that hasn’t been authorized for release — even if it is unclassified. The memo also includes new rules further restricting the areas within the Pentagon that credentialed reporters are allowed to be without an escort. Though the Pentagon justified the new restrictions as being necessary to protect “national security,” news outlets decried them as an attempt to limit independent reporting. The new rules build upon a May memo that limited the spaces reporters were allowed to access without an escort.

Department of Homeland Security proposes limits for visas for foreign journalists

The Department of Homeland Security proposed a new rule limiting the amount of time foreign journalists working in the United States on a media visa can stay in the country. The visa, known as an I visa, allows journalists working for foreign media companies to travel to and report on events in the U.S. They are generally valid for the duration of the journalist’s work assignment in the country. Under the new rule, journalists would only be permitted to stay in the country for up to 240 days. At the end of that period, they can then extend their visa for up to 240 more days but no longer than the length of their assignment. Journalists from China would be limited to a 90 day period. In proposing the rule, President Donald Trump’s administration aims to require foreign journalists to routinely undergo DHS assessments  to stay in the U.S. for a longer period of time.

More from Poynter:

• Foreign journalists in the U.S. are self-censoring to protect themselves from the Trump administration
• America’s top journalism schools may lose a generation of international talent

White House kicks Wall Street Journal reporter out of presidential travel pool

The White House removed a Wall Street Journal reporter from the pool of reporters who were scheduled to accompany President Donald Trump on a trip to Scotland. The decision, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, stemmed from the Journal’s “fake and defamatory conduct.” Just four days prior, the Journal had published a story stating that Trump had given convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a “bawdy” birthday letter in 2003. Trump later sued the Journal for defamation. The Journal reporter who was removed from the White House pool did not have a byline on the Epstein story. The incident was the latest in which the White House has exerted control over the pool of reporters responsible for covering it, sometimes excluding outlets it dislikes — most notably The Associated Press — in favor of more friendly, conservative publications. Before February, the independent, nonprofit White House Correspondents’ Association used to determine which reporters were part of the daily rotating pool of journalists that covered the president’s activities.

More from Poynter:

• Trump sues Murdoch’s Journal and sends a familiar warning to the rest of the press
• The Trump administration goes on the attack against The Wall Street Journal

Pentagon restricts journalists’ access in building

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced new restrictions on journalists’ access to physical spaces in the Pentagon. The updated policy requires journalists to obtain official approval and escort to access certain areas that had once been open to them. A memo detailing the restrictions justified the move as necessary to “reduce the opportunities for in-person inadvertent and authorized disclosures.” The memo further announced that journalists in the Pentagon Press Corps would be required to complete updated forms and reissued new press passes. The new restrictions follow previous moves by the Department of Defense to limit its traveling press pool and to kick mainstream outlets out of dedicated Pentagon office spaces in favor of largely conservative outlets.