Nearly All Major Media Outlets Reject Pentagon’s Restrictive Press Policy
Dozens of reporters from major news outlets are handing over their Pentagon press badges today after a new restrictive media policy took effect Tuesday evening. ABC, NBC, CBS, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, Newsmax, The Washington Times, and dozens more refused to sign a pledge, introduced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last month, not to obtain or use any unapproved/unauthorized material — even if the information is unclassified.
Fox News, where Hegseth formerly worked, also refused to sign.
EXCEPTION: Only far-right outlet One America News has agreed to comply.
Retired four-star General Jack Keane and Fox News anchor Bret Baier — who covered the Pentagon for six years with Fox — blasted the new media restrictions Tuesday night, calling them a threat to press freedom.
“That’s not journalism,” Keane said. “Journalism is going out and finding the story and getting all the facts that support it.”
OUTLETS VS. HEGSETH
Hegseth, next to President Trump on Tuesday, characterized the restrictions as “commonsense,” saying that journalists do not identify themselves and “could go pretty much anywhere” inside one of the most secure buildings in the world. But journalists already wear badges identifying themselves and do not enter classified areas, CNN national security correspondent Barbara Starr explained.
Critics have condemned the policy as unconstitutional, calling it a direct attack on press freedom.
The New York Times wrote that the policy “constrains how journalists can report on the U.S. military, which is funded by nearly $1 trillion in taxpayer dollars annually.”
The Pentagon Press Association, a body that represents the beat reporters, says the new policy “gags Pentagon employees and threatens retaliation against reporters who seek out information that has not been pre-approved for release.”
No other federal agency — not even the White House — has demanded such a pledge.
Hegseth responded to outlets’ explanations Monday with a 👋 on X.
BIGGER PICTURE
Hegseth’s Pentagon has held six main briefings since January — a stark contrast to previous administrations. In recent years, The Defense Department held weekly press briefings. Officials have also evicted many news outlets from their Pentagon workspaces and sharply restricted where reporters can go without an escort.
LOTS OF NEWS: In the four months since Hegseth last briefed reporters, the U.S. military has carried out strikes in the Caribbean Sea and deployed troops to American cities — both actions now under legal scrutiny.
Inside the Pentagon, thousands of uniformed and civilian workers will be required to sign nondisclosure agreements and undergo random polygraph tests as Hegseth intensifies his crackdown on leaks to reporters or finding officials deemed insufficiently loyal, according to Washington Post reporting.
Journalists across major outlets vow to continue reporting on the Pentagon regardless.