McClatchy Claims It Was Barred From Pentagon Plane As Retaliation For Anti-War Coverage

[kpete]

McClatchy claims it is barred from Pentagon plane.

“Staffers at McClatchy’s Washington, D.C., Bureau — one of the few major news outlets skeptical of intelligence reports during the run-up to the war in Iraq — claims it is now being punished for that coverage.”

Bureau Chief John Walcott and current and former McClatchy Pentagon correspondents say they have not been allowed on the Defense Secretary’s plane for at least three years, claiming the news company is being retaliated against for its reporting.

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Drew Brown, who covered the Pentagon on several occasions between 2002 and 2007 before leaving McClatchy for Stars and Stripes, claimed he was never allowed to travel with Rumsfeld or current Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who took over several months ago. "I asked a couple of times, and they gave me a non-committal answer," Brown said. "The Department of Defense took the outlets they were able to influence, the wire and the big newspapers. I don't think they really care about anyone outside the Washington Beltway."


http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/23/mcclatchy-claims-it-is-barred-from-pentagon-plane/
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003588819