Pentagon to fingerprint visiting journalists

Press, 26 June 1987, Page 23

Pentagon to fingerprint visiting journalists

By NORMAN BLACK NZPA-AP Washington The Pentagon will proceed with a plan to fingerprint journalists and check their backgrounds but has stopped short of asking them about drug and alcohol use.

One senior official, who asked not to be named, said it is part of a general tightening of security at the Pentagon aimed at standardising the type of pass that provides unescorted entry to the building. In the case of reporters, however, only a portion of the standard “Personnel Security Questionnaire” will have to be filled in.

As a result, reporters will not be asked about such things as past use of marijuana or any other types of drugs, treatment

at a mental institution, treatment for alcoholism or loss of a job because of alcohol consumption, personal bankruptcy or membership of the Communist Party. The sources said that Robert Sims, the assistant defence secretary for Public Affairs, heeded the objections of news media groups by agreeing that some of the questions were inappropriate for journalists.

Mr Sims first discussed the changes in security procedures early in May, and announced that all reporters seeking access to the building would have to obtain a Pentagon pass. To obtain the pass, reporters would have to fill ■ in a questionnaire, submit to a background check and provide finger-

prints to the F. 8.1. The change is an important one for reporters, because any journalist with a White House, State Department or congressional press pass can now enter the Pentagon. In the past, reporters also could obtain a Pentagon pass with simple certification from their employer that they have been assigned to cover the department. Media organisations quickly objected to the Pentagon questionnaire, pointing out it was a form used to apply for security clearances. Since the Pentagon does not offer security clearances to reporters, some of the questions were criticised as intrusive and unnecessary.

“Since we are talking about access to the build-

ing and not a clearance, the security folks finally agreed they did not need all the questions answered,” one official said.

The Defence Department formerly required fingerprinting and background checks of correspondents covering the department, but the practice was abandoned in 1975. Since then, the Pentagon has become for reporters one of the more accessible of the Government’s buildings. The change in pass procedures follows other security measures implemented over the last few years, including the closing of bus tunnels beneath the Pentagon building and the erection of gates and guard houses at the main entrance driveways.