A Call for Reporting Tips Rankles Pentagon Officials

A Washington Post appeal for information about the military qualified as prohibited “solicitation,” according to defense officials.

When lawyers for The New York Times and the Pentagon gathered in a federal courthouse last week to debate the department’s new restrictions on journalists, one topic kept coming up — and it had nothing to do with The Times.

At issue was a box that The Washington Post had placed on its website asking for tips about the military.

“Help us report on the Pentagon,” read the heading on the box. The paper appealed to “Defense Department civilians and service members” for information on “changes within the Pentagon and throughout the U.S. military.”