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Pentagon Forces Out Popular Press Spokesman
Pentagon Forces Out Popular Press Spokesman
Link to tweet
Pentagon Forces Out Popular Press Spokesman
BY DAN DE LUCE, PAUL MCLEARY AUGUST 16, 2017 - 4:17
http://www.twitter.com/dandeluce
[email protected]
The Defense Department has parted ways with a senior media adviser who had years of experience working with reporters, a move that is sure to aggravate the administration’s already difficult relations with the press corps. ... The abrupt departure of Steve Warren, an Army colonel who established a rapport with Pentagon correspondents over the course of his career, coincides with broader complaints raised by journalists about how the department is providing information and handling media access to Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Dana White, the assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, played a key role in Warren’s departure, current and former officials told Foreign Policy. ... White has worked as a publicist for Fox News, served as an adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), and held jobs with the defense giant Northrop Grumman and the Renault-Nissan Alliance before launching her own Washington-based consultancy.
Reporters covering the Pentagon have repeatedly appealed for more media events with Mattis, who has rarely held press conferences since taking office. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, has kept a low media profile as well.
Several reporters who had committed to travel with Mattis to the Middle East were informed late Monday — just four days before they were to leave — that they had been disinvited from the trip. This follows a pattern that has become increasingly common under Mattis, where reporters who have completed their visa paperwork and made plans to take multi-day international travel were told they were no longer welcome, with little explanation. ... Booting reporters off Defense Department trips at the last minute has infuriated veteran journalists covering the military. The Pentagon Press Association raised the issue on Tuesday in a meeting with department officials, which included White, the Pentagon’s top press official.
BY DAN DE LUCE, PAUL MCLEARY AUGUST 16, 2017 - 4:17
http://www.twitter.com/dandeluce
[email protected]
The Defense Department has parted ways with a senior media adviser who had years of experience working with reporters, a move that is sure to aggravate the administration’s already difficult relations with the press corps. ... The abrupt departure of Steve Warren, an Army colonel who established a rapport with Pentagon correspondents over the course of his career, coincides with broader complaints raised by journalists about how the department is providing information and handling media access to Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Dana White, the assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, played a key role in Warren’s departure, current and former officials told Foreign Policy. ... White has worked as a publicist for Fox News, served as an adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), and held jobs with the defense giant Northrop Grumman and the Renault-Nissan Alliance before launching her own Washington-based consultancy.
Reporters covering the Pentagon have repeatedly appealed for more media events with Mattis, who has rarely held press conferences since taking office. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, has kept a low media profile as well.
Several reporters who had committed to travel with Mattis to the Middle East were informed late Monday — just four days before they were to leave — that they had been disinvited from the trip. This follows a pattern that has become increasingly common under Mattis, where reporters who have completed their visa paperwork and made plans to take multi-day international travel were told they were no longer welcome, with little explanation. ... Booting reporters off Defense Department trips at the last minute has infuriated veteran journalists covering the military. The Pentagon Press Association raised the issue on Tuesday in a meeting with department officials, which included White, the Pentagon’s top press official.
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