Reporters challenge Pentagon policy that bans them from reporting

Three news organizations have appealed last week’s order from the Pentagon that bans four journalists from covering proceedings at Guantanamo Bay, The Miami Herald reports.

The Miami Herald, Canwest Newspapers and the Toronto Star sent a letter to the Pentagon challenging the ban that arose after the reporters published the name of a witness known as "Interrogator No. 1" who appeared at the hearing of a Canadian detainee. The presiding judge ordered that the witness’s name be kept secret, even though it had previously been publicized on several occasions.  

Military rules prohibit publishing information that the judge deems confidential, but the reporters believed that these rules did not apply in a case where the information is widely available to the public.

The news organization’s letter states that the order is erroneous and the expulsion should be rescinded because preventing the publication of information that is already public serves no military purpose.