NBC, NYT, NPR and Politico set to lose permanent office space in Pentagon as part of ‘rotation’ program

By Michael P. Hill February 1, 2025

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Pete Hegseth, the newly installed head of the Department of Defense, has announced a new “rotation program” that will see NBC News, The New York Times, NPR and Politico all losing their dedicated permanent press office space inside the Pentagon in favor of multiple conservative outlets — and one that didn’t ask for space.

Like many government buildings in and around Washington, D.C., the Pentagon has space dedicated to the press corps assigned to its beat. This includes access to a briefing room as well as both shared and dedicated office space or desks for journalists. Some outlets have the ability to broadcast live from this space as well. These “booths,” as they are known at the Pentagon, include a variety of technical equipment, phone lines and can also be set up for live video and audio transmission. 

Under the new policy, which was issued with a notation that said “no additional information will be provided at this time,” the plan appears to be to rotate four outlets out of their spaces each year.

The Pentagon will still allow other outlets with dedicated “permanent” space assigned to remain in those spots until they are subject to being rotated out.

It was clarified that currently credentialed organizations will still be permitted in press area and to attend briefings, as well as use shared space and resources made available to the wider pool of media, even if they are losing office space. 

The Pentagon did not explain its reasoning or methodology for selecting which outlets qualify for space or how the rotations may work down the road. 

The rotation does not appear to be a one-for-one swap for outlets in the same medium or reach.

For example, NPR is being rotated out, but there is no outlet that is categorized primarily as a radio or audio news broadcaster (instead, depending on how you categorize outlets, it appears it would essentially be replaced by one of the two digital outlets). The other outlets gaining space have significantly smaller reach than their current occupant.

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“In order to broaden access to the limited space of the Correspondents’ Corridor to outlets that have not previously enjoyed the privilege and journalist value of working from physical office space in the Pentagon, beginning Feb. 14, 2025,” wrote spokesperson John Ullyot. 

Ullyot’s team did not notify individual outlets individually beforehand; instead they learned of the decision when they received the blanket memo announcing the change.

Of the outlets losing their space, NBC is one of the four major English-language broadcast networks in the U.S. 

Replacing NBC News will be OAN, a right-leaning outlet that frequently features false and misleading information, conspiracy theories and biased coverage. OAN is not available on any major national cable or satellite operator. Much of its distribution comes from digital streaming or limited over-the-air distribution in select markets. OAN claims it reaches between 150,000 and 500,000 viewers per day, figures that do not appear to be audited. Nielsen, meanwhile, estimates viewership in the mid-five figures. 

NBC’s evening news program, “NBC Nightly News,” typically reaches between 6 and 7 million viewers each day, at this viewership does not include any other NBC News programs or its sister networks. 

The New York Times is often considered the country’s “paper of record” and still maintains the largest paid membership base of any newspaper, when digital is included, of any other publisher, though its print-only circulation makes it the second largest in that metric, behind The Wall Street Journal, at around 290,000. 

NPR, which is one of the targets of a separate FCC investigation instigated by Trump, provides radio news and informational programs to hundreds of member stations across the country. Its “Morning Edition” reaches an estimated 14 million listeners daily.

Politico, it could be argued, is the one outlet that doesn’t have quite as high of a profile as its fellow evicted counterparts, though it’s still a major player in the national political news space, especially in the growing arena of digital news. Website traffic is more difficult to track and published estimates from sites that use a sampling of web traffic tend vary greatly. 

In addition to OAN, DoD is giving space to The New York Post, another conservative publisher. The Post is owned by News Corp., which is the sister company to FNC’s parent Fox Corp. Both companies are controlled by the family of Rupert Murdoch, an Australian magnate who is known for his conservative views. The Post has a print circulation of around 130,000 and does not offer paid digital subscriptions like The New York Times. 

Digital outlet Breitbart, which is also known for its right-wing views and bias, is also gaining space, as is fellow digital outlet HuffPost, which has indicated it does not currently employ a full-time Pentagon correspondent and did not request the space it will get. HuffPost tends to lean more left, making it the lone non-conservative outlet being given space. Again, digital traffic is difficult to estimate, and third-party data sources indicate that Breitbart could have similar or more traffic than Politico. 

After these changes, the result is that Hegseth has given two sets of office space to Murdoch-controlled outlets.

He’s also elevated two outlets, OAN and Breitbart, which are widely considered not only bias but significant contributors to the issue of misinformation and conspiracy theories, to a prestigious spot on the Pentagon’s Correspondents’ Row.

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The changes also mean that NBC News, one of the country’s “big three” and “big four” broadcast networks, will lose space it has held for decades (at least some of the space also helps provide content for MSNBC and CNBC).

In various statements, all of the outlets moving out expressed concern over the decision and its effect on the ability for all media to provide coverage, but said they would continue to offer quality coverage of the beat. 

The Pentagon Press Association, meanwhile, said it is “greatly troubled” by the move, and labeled the decision as an attempt to “single out” certain members of the media.

During Trump’s first time in office, the White House and other federal departments frequently sparred with members of the press. The White House even went to the extent of revoking certain members’ press credentials and was also criticized for how it enforced reduce capacity rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Before the Pentagon’s changes, the White House indicated it will open up applications for a wider range of what is calls “press” to get credentialed, including “social media influencers and content creators.” It did not indicate if those would be eligible for office space or just a seat in the briefing room or how it plans to accommodate new members of the corps.

While both the White House and Pentagon, like many government buildings, have limited space for the media, including granting access to briefings, it has largely been tradition to prioritize access to major outlets with wide reaches. Smaller outlets may have to share a spot with others, sometimes on a per-briefing basis. 

The reasoning here is that these outlets not only will be able to report news coming from the White House to the most number of people possible, but also that they are more likely to have experienced, well-sourced correspondents with professional journalism training. 

Most briefings are still made available to all outlets in some way, such as streaming or archived video, and media outlets not in the room also frequently use the longtime journalistic practice of citing other outlets in their own reporting. 

Assignments to press space are often reviewed regularly in cooperation with the agency or department and appropriate correspondents association, if one exists. 

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