US media return Pentagon passes, giving up access after new rules kick in
Key Takeaways
- Over 30 news outlets lost Pentagon access after refusing to sign new, highly restrictive reporting guidelines.
- The new 21-page rules restrict reporter movement, staff engagement, and information solicitation within the building.
- Media groups argue the policy implicitly threatens criminalization and prosecution for national security reporting.
- Major news organizations, including both liberal and conservative outlets, declined to comply with the new rules.
- The Pentagon claims the rules are necessary for national security and that reporters only need to acknowledge the policy, not agree to it.
Dozens of news outlets, including The Associated Press, The New York Times, and CNN, have lost access to the Pentagon after reporters refused to sign a new 21-page set of guidelines imposing sharp restrictions on reporting about the US military.
The Pentagon had set a Wednesday afternoon deadline for agreement to obtain credentials, but more than 30 outlets declined, leading to reporters vacating the premises and the confiscation of media badges by the Department of Defense.
The Pentagon Press Association strongly objected, stating the rules implicitly threaten to criminalize national security reporting and expose signatories to potential prosecution.
These new guidelines restrict reporters' ability to move around the building, engage with staff, and solicit information, and they attempt to limit the publication of classified and certain unclassified information, rights historically protected by the Supreme Court in the Pentagon Papers case.
Introduced by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in September, the rules were criticized for making journalists legally liable, though a revised version toned down some language, which media outlets still view as violating constitutional press freedoms.
The Pentagon downplayed the concerns, with Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell stating reporters only need to acknowledge the policy, not agree to it, and asserting the rules are for the best interest of troops and national security.
