The US Defense Department announced Friday night that it would double the number of news organizations that would be removed from physical offices to make room for more conservative outlets such as The Daily Caller and Newsmax.
In a memo obtained by the international media , the Pentagon said that CNN, The Washington Post, The Hill, and The War Zone would join Politico, NBC News, NPR, and The New York Times in being forced to vacate their offices. Conservative outlets that will be rotated in to replace them are The Washington Examiner, The Free Press, The Daily Caller, and Newsmax.
This week’s announcement said CNN, The Washington Post, The Hill, and The War Zone had until Feb. 21 to make way for seven total conservative outlets – those named above, plus Breitbart News, One America News Network, and The New York Post.
HuffPost – a traditionally progressive outlet – will also have a seat at the media table at the Pentagon. Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense John Ullyot called for conservative outlets to have “their turn” at the Pentagon. Ullyot wrote: “The previous Administration set a hostile tone with reporters by revoking over 440 White House press credentials and restricting access by credentialed journalists covering public events at the White House, drawing a protest letter from the White House Correspondents Association.”
To the outlets losing their officers, Ullyot wrote, “By turning over the office space loaned to you by the Secretary, you will ensure that other outlets will enjoy the same opportunity to cover our nation’s finest up close from office spaces inside the walls of the Pentagon this year and each year going forward.”
