
The Department of Defense is evicting a number of traditional news outlets from their long-time offices at the Pentagon and will allow right-of-center TV networks and publications to move into that shared space later this month.
The changes affect the Correspondents’ Corridor, a set of offices loaned to print, television and radio publications over the years with the goal of giving established news outlets greater access to the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. military, and its officials.
Starting February 14, the Pentagon says a number of those organizations — specifically, the New York Times, NBC News, National Public Radio (NPR) and Politico — will no longer occupy offices at the Pentagon. Instead, that office space will be afforded to the New York Post, One America News Network, the radio arm of the Breitbart News Network and the Huffington Post.
In a two-page memo circulated to members of the Pentagon Press Corps on Friday, Department of Defense spokesperson John Ullyot said the move was intended to “broaden access to the limited space of the Correspondents’ Corridor to outlets that have not previously enjoyed the privilege and journalistic value of working from physical office space within the Pentagon.”
It was not clear from the memo how the news organizations were picked for eviction. Some of the news outlets targeted for eviction have drawn the ire of conservative politicians over the years, while each of the four outlets picked to replace them have courted favor with Trump and his political allies.
NBC News shares common ownership with MSNBC, a cable news network that features left-of-center and progressive commentators. The broadcast network said it was not individually notified about the order to move out of its Pentagon office, and that a follow-up email sent to the outlet affirmed no additional information would be provided.
“We’re disappointed by the decision to deny us access to a broadcasting booth at the Pentagon that we’ve used for many decades,” a spokesperson for NBC News said in a statement. “Despite the significant obstacles this presents to our ability to gather and report news in the national public interest, we will continue to report with the same integrity and rigor NBC News always has.”
In a statement, NPR said the eviction “interferes with the ability of millions of Americans to directly hear from Pentagon leadership, and with NPR’s public interest mission to serve Americans who turn to our network of local public media stations in all 50 states.” The outlet affirmed its news reports reach 40 million Americans on a daily basis.
“NPR will continue to report with vigor and integrity on the transformation this Administration has promised to deliver,” an NPR spokesperson said in an email to The Desk Saturday morning. “NPR urges the Pentagon to expand the offices available to press within the building so that all outlets covering the Pentagon receive equal access.”
The eviction notice comes several days after the U.S. Senate confirmed Trump’s nomination for U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. After his nomination by Trump last November, the New York Times disclosed an e-mail sent by Hegseth’s mother, Penelope Hegseth that accused him of mistreating women for years; she later apologized to Hegseth and said she regretted sending the message.
Earlier this week, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency was probing non-commercial broadcast stations that carry programs from NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and their sponsorship messages. Under federal law, licensed non-commercial and educational stations are not permitted to carry traditional TV advertisements; Carr suggested some NPR and PBS member stations may air sponsorship messaging that resemble commercial spots. NPR and PBS do not own licensed radio or TV broadcast stations — instead, they distribute programs to independently-owned member stations, some of which are owned by colleges and universities.
The Huffington Post, which operates as HuffPost, was acquired by BuzzFeed in 2020. Last year, former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy acquired more than 8 percent of BuzzFeed, becoming the publication’s largest Class A shareholder. Ramaswamy was appointed by Trump last November to oversee the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with technology mogul Elon Musk.
The New York Post endorsed Trump during his presidential campaign last year.