For the first time in more than 60 years, CBS News will close out the week without a workspace in the Pentagon after declining — along with nearly every major news organization — to sign onto new press requirements that reporters’ associations say could infringe on their First Amendment rights.
CBS News had radio correspondents in the building since the 1940s and a TV network booth, or mini-office, in an area designated for media since the 1970s. Over the past two decades, as the networks have been able to go live from the building, “on-air” lights flash on when major news breaks, and journalists relay information to the public live from the Pentagon.
CBS News’ David Martin and Mary Walsh
For most of that time, CBS News chief national security correspondent David Martin was the one breaking the news and reporting out every story. The Pentagon gave him his first press badge in 1983, his longtime producer Mary Walsh 10 years later. Since then, the duo has not only covered every military conflict, but also told stories about the military’s service members and their lives.
“I’m proud of the work David Martin and I have done, telling stories of valor on the battlefield and courage and resilience at Walter Reed,” Walsh wrote in an email before turning in her Pentagon press credential this week. “I have been inspired and humbled by the fortitude of these men and women, their willingness to sacrifice everything for our country.”
Many of those stories emerged from relationships built because of CBS News’ constant presence inside the Pentagon.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-news-pentagon-60-year-presence-press-requirements/
