The White House has announced a new rule restricting access for accredited journalists to the office of press secretary Carolyn Levitt and other senior officials in the West Wing, near the Oval Office. Reuters
According to a memo from the US National Security Council, media representatives will no longer be able to visit Room 140 (Upper Press) without an appointment. The document states that this decision was made for security reasons to protect potentially confidential materials, and it took effect immediately.
The National Security Council explained that due to structural changes, White House communications staff “regularly work with sensitive information”, so free access for journalists must be limited.
Before this, journalists were able to freely enter Room 140, located just a few meters from the Oval Office, to communicate with Press Secretary Levitt, her deputy Stephen Chung, or other administration officials.
The decision was a continuation of recent restrictions introduced at the Pentagon. There, dozens of journalists were forced to leave their jobs and surrender their passes after refusing to sign new access rules.
According to the new requirements of the Ministry of Defense, media representatives must agree to conditions under which they can be recognized as a “security threat” and deprived of accreditation in case of an attempt to obtain confidential or even partially open information from employees of the department.
Previously, the administration of Donald Trump has already restricted the work of journalists, excluding Reuters, Associated Press and Bloomberg from the permanent pool of media outlets covering the activities of the president, allowing them to work only sporadically.
