Story Leads to 'Denver Post' Ban from Colorado Army Base

By: (AP) Army officials barred Denver Post reporters from Fort Carson because the newspaper published an article about soldiers unhappy with their health care, a military spokesman said.

Chief spokesman Lt. Col. David Johnson said the newspaper has been eliminated from an e-mail list used to make official statements and send invitations to events. A Post reporter was also told Wednesday she could not attend a deployment ceremony that other reporters were allowed to cover.

Relations were suspended temporarily "as a direct result of Fort Carson not being given fair and balanced treatment in a story that appeared on Dec. 5, 2004," Johnson told the Post for an article published Thursday.

Sunday's front-page report focused on mentally and physically ill National Guard and Army Reserve members who say they have been denied quality care and are being pushed out of the service without disability pay. Congress has been reviewing so-called "medical holds" at bases across the country.

Post Editor Greg Moore said the story was thorough, balancing the concerns of the soldiers with a substantial response from the military.

"It's our job to investigate issues like these and explain them to our readers, many of whom have family members serving in the military," Moore said. "We hope Fort Carson officials reconsider their ban of The Denver Post. If they don't, we will appeal to senior military officers at Fort Carson and in Washington, and through any other legal or congressional channels that are available to us."

Last week, the Post also fought the Army's decision to close a hearing for three Fort Carson soldiers accused of murdering an Iraqi general. The newspaper won an injunction to stop the hearing while the Army appeals court reviews the closure.

The suspended relations come amid increased tension over free-press rights.

The (Baltimore) Sun recently sued Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich in federal court for banning state officials from talking to two of its reporters. The governor contended he was merely fighting back against inaccurate reporting.

A number of reporters around the country have been held in contempt for refusing to disclose sources. Judith Miller of The New York Times and Time magazine's Matt Cooper are appealing charges in federal court, and five reporters, including one from The Associated Press, were held in contempt last summer in a civil case brought against the government by former nuclear physicist Wen Ho Lee. Fines were levied; payments were suspended pending appeals.