DoD guidelines for press contact revised

WASHINGTON, July 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Defense has announced new policies for military officers dealing with the media, following the firing of Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

The new rules come in the wake of President Barack Obama's firing of the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan after the publication of a Rolling Stone article in which McChrystal and his aides were critical of administration officials. Under new guidelines set by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, top-level Pentagon and military leaders must inform the Defense Department's assistant secretary for public affairs "prior to interviews or any other means of media and public engagement with possible national or international implications," The New York Times reported Friday.

Officials involved in preparing the memo said work on it began long before the uproar that led to McChrystal's firing, but said the incident increased the Secretary's resolve to add more discipline to the Defense Department's interactions with the media. "I have said many times that we must strive to be as open, accessible and transparent as possible," Gates wrote in a memo outlining the new guidelines. "At the same time, I am concerned that the department has grown lax in how we engage with the media, often in contravention of established rules and procedures."

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was consulted during the drafting of the memo on media relations and "fully supports the secretary's intent," Capt. John Kirby, the chairman's spokesman, said.