The Defense Department blocked photojournalists from attending Pentagon briefings on the Iran war after outlets published photos of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from a March 2 briefing that department staffers deemed “unflattering,” according to the Washington Post.
Press photographers from outlets including the Associated Press, Reuters and Getty Images captured photos from the March 2 briefing on the war, Hegseth’s first press briefing from the Pentagon briefing room since June 26. But after the photos were published, Hegseth’s staffers didn’t like how Hegseth looked and proceeded to block photographers from its March 4 and March 10 briefings, sources told the Post.
Since the March 2 briefing alongside Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, only department photographers have been allowed into briefings, according to the Post. Press photographers attempting to enter the March 4 briefing were blocked, the paper reported.
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told TheWrap the department was only allowing one representative from news outlets not credentialed with the Pentagon “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.”
Photographs from wire services, including the AP, Reuters and Getty Images, are licensed to and distributed by news outlets worldwide. Spokespeople for the three outlets did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The incident represents the latest imbroglio in the war between Hegseth, a former Fox News host, and the press corps designated to cover him and the Defense Department. Credentialed Pentagon reporters left the building in October instead of signing a new policy that aimed to prevent journalists from soliciting and publishing unauthorized information, with their press pool slots replaced by a faction of right-wing outlets.
The policy prompted the New York Times to sue the Defense Department over the policy, and an imminent ruling in the case could allow the Times and its media colleagues to return to the building.
Since the Iran war started, some mainstream media outlets have been allowed into Hegseth’s briefings, including reporters from the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal and Fox News.
