Press freedom resolution by American Legion Post 20 advances for national consideration

A press freedom resolution passed in November by the American Legion post affiliated with the National Press Club has been approved by the Legion's Department of the District of Columbia.

Effectively, the action by the DC Legion's executive committee amounts to state-level adoption of Post 20's resolution. The department's approval took place during a meeting on Jan. 22.

The resolution reads, in part: "The Pentagon should immediately repeal requirements for journalists to sign a pledge not to report any information not approved by the government, and to restore full access for journalists and recommit to the principles that have long distinguished this country from governments that fear their own press."

The resolution has not yet been considered by the American Legion at the national level.

Last year, the Department of Defense announced new restrictions on journalists who cover the Pentagon. Virtually all of the Pentagon Press Corps refused to sign the pledge, including CNN, Fox News, the Associated Press, and many others. The Press Club's library now features an exhibit showing items reporters took from their Pentagon work spaces after they were told to turn in their badges and leave.

Post 20 has been affiliated with the Club for more than a century. The post was founded at the urging of World War I General John J. Pershing, who was an associate member of the Club at the time.