The Pentagon says it will require credentialed journalists at the military headquarters to sign a pledge to refrain from reporting information that has not been authorized for release — including unclassified information. Journalists who don’t abide by the policy risk losing credentials that provide access to the Pentagon, under a 17-page memo distributed Friday that steps up media restrictions imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump.
Information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified, the directive states. The signature form includes an array of security requirements for credentialed media at the Pentagon. Advocates for press freedoms denounced the non-disclosure requirement as an assault on independent journalism. The new Pentagon restrictions arrive as Trump expands threats, lawsuits, and government pressure as he remakes the American media landscape.
If the news about our military must first be approved by the government, then the public is no longer getting independent reporting. It is getting only what officials want them to see, said National Press Club President Mike Balsamo. That should alarm every American.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News Channel personality, highlighted the restrictions in a social media post on X. The ‘press’ does not run the Pentagon — the people do. The press is no longer allowed to roam the halls of a secure facility, Hegseth said. The Pentagon has evicted many news organizations while imposing restrictions, including banning reporters from entering wide swaths of the Pentagon without government escorts — areas previously accessible.
This policy has faced backlash, with the Society of Professional Journalists labeling it alarming and representing the most severe violation of press freedom under the First Amendment. Attempts to silence the press under the guise of 'security' are part of a disturbing pattern of growing government hostility toward transparency and democratic norms, they stated. Matt Murray, executive editor of The Washington Post, argued that the policy is detrimental to the public interest and undermines constitutional rights.
Information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified, the directive states. The signature form includes an array of security requirements for credentialed media at the Pentagon. Advocates for press freedoms denounced the non-disclosure requirement as an assault on independent journalism. The new Pentagon restrictions arrive as Trump expands threats, lawsuits, and government pressure as he remakes the American media landscape.
If the news about our military must first be approved by the government, then the public is no longer getting independent reporting. It is getting only what officials want them to see, said National Press Club President Mike Balsamo. That should alarm every American.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News Channel personality, highlighted the restrictions in a social media post on X. The ‘press’ does not run the Pentagon — the people do. The press is no longer allowed to roam the halls of a secure facility, Hegseth said. The Pentagon has evicted many news organizations while imposing restrictions, including banning reporters from entering wide swaths of the Pentagon without government escorts — areas previously accessible.
This policy has faced backlash, with the Society of Professional Journalists labeling it alarming and representing the most severe violation of press freedom under the First Amendment. Attempts to silence the press under the guise of 'security' are part of a disturbing pattern of growing government hostility toward transparency and democratic norms, they stated. Matt Murray, executive editor of The Washington Post, argued that the policy is detrimental to the public interest and undermines constitutional rights.
