Summary
- Pentagon's new reporting rules caused mass journalist exodus.
- Rules restrict reporting unauthorized, unapproved military information.
- Nearly all major outlets refused to comply, and left the Pentagon.
Following the refusal of almost all American news outlets, including Trump-friendly networks Fox News and Newsmax, to adhere to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's media limitations, dozens of print and broadcast journalists left the Pentagon on Wednesday.
One of the new guidelines in Hegseth's 21-page policy, which he offered credentialed journalists until Tuesday night to accept, was that reporters were not allowed to ask government employees for any material, classified or not, without first obtaining permission from the Pentagon.
The Pentagon Press Association, which advocates for about 100 journalists, criticized the policy's "unprecedented message of intimidation" and called on the department to change its strategy on its attack on press freedom.
“Our members did nothing to create this disturbing situation. It arises from an entirely one-sided move by Pentagon officials apparently intent upon cutting the American public off from information they do not control and pre-approve,”
the group, which represents members from 57 domestic and international news outlets, said this week. Not all credentialed journalists at the Pentagon are represented by the association.
By Thursday, it was evident who had been abandoned in the Pentagon corridors. Out of hundreds of credentialed reporters, only 15 had signed the new press pledge, according to an official government document that The Washington Post was the first to obtain.
The pro-Trump cable network One America News has two signatories, the right-wing website The Federalist has one, and the ultra-conservative publication The Epoch Times has another.
11 reporters remain, including freelancers for international organizations and a few obscure independent websites that seem to just post on social media.
“A reporter for the Turkish newspaper Akşam signed the agreement, as did three individuals from the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency and two Turkish freelancers,”
the Post reported.
“Other signers included a reporter for The Australian, a News Corp-owned Australian paper; an Afghan freelancer; and three lesser-known operations, AWPS News, the India Globe and a blog called USA Journal Korea.”
Additionally, two members of the Jordanian TV network Al Taghier signed an older version of the policy, which had been scrapped and revised amid negotiations and pushback from the Pentagon Press Association and other press advocacy groups.
Only One America News had openly accepted the limiting vow before a group of defense reporters ceremoniously left the Pentagon together Wednesday afternoon after turning in their badges and clearing their desks.
Requests for response from The Independent and the Post were not immediately answered by these outlets, but several have publicly defended and justified the policy.
Charles Herring, president of One America News, claimed in a statement earlier this week that OAN staff had signed the updated press policy following a "thorough review of the revised press policy by our attorney." Meanwhile, Kristina Anderson of AWPS News, which focuses on social media, said she experienced "a profound sense of loss as I walk the Pentagon’s Correspondent spaces today."
The Federalist CEO Sean Davis, and editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway, posted a lengthy and bombastic statement on X claiming they had reviewed the Pentagon’s press rules and found “zero new restrictions” for journalists covering the department. At the same time, the conservative pundits railed against the media at large for rejecting the policy.
“Where were these self-styled First Amendment defenders when we were illegally censored and targeted for debunking Deep State lies and hoaxes? Many of them not only refused to defend us, but cheered the illegal censorship efforts against us,”
the statement declared.
“NBC News, for example, colluded with Big Tech to demonetize and deplatform us for criticizing the government and the corrupt corporate news media.”
Besides editing The Federalist, Hemingway is also a paid contributor for Fox News which joined other broadcast news networks in rebuffing the Pentagon’s restrictions and refusing to sign the pledge.
“Today, we join virtually every other news organization in declining to agree to the Pentagon’s new requirements, which would restrict journalists’ ability to keep the nation and the world informed of important national security issues,”
the joint statement said.
“The policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections. We will continue to cover the U.S. military as each of our organizations has done for many decades, upholding the principles of a free and independent press.”
Another MAGA-friendly network that generally supports the Trump administration, Newsmax, also opposed the program, calling its restrictions "unnecessary and onerous" and requesting that the Pentagon conduct additional research on the subject.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell mockingly tweeted that the “self-righteous media chose to self-deport from the Pentagon” and that they “will not be missed,” while both Hegseth and President Donald Trump remained steadfast in their support of the prohibitive media policies.
Additionally, he hinted at some more information regarding the reporters who will be covering the department in the future.
“The Department of War will make an announcement soon regarding the next generation of the Pentagon press corps,”
he wrote. “Stay tuned. The best is yet to come!”
How do other countries regulate press access to defense ministries?
Access to defense ministries by the media differs significantly between countries, balancing national security with media freedom.
For instance, press access to the UK Ministry of Defence is relatively unrestricted. Accredited journalists regularly attend briefings, attend a press conference and visit military operations where ground rules are organised. Journalists must have security clearances to enter sensitive areas, but outside of that, press access is normally unrestricted if they operate under transparency protection to ensure security of operations is not compromised.
Some countries create stricter media defenses. For example, in Russia upon access to the Ministry of Defence and military operations is never approved without prior approval and the media is strategically limited to independent military reporting for the purpose of avoiding bad publicity or leaks.