Dozens of news outlets have lost access to the Pentagon after they refused to sign a new set of guidelines that sharply restrict their ability to report on the United States military.
The Pentagon had set a deadline of Wednesday afternoon in the US for reporters to agree to a new 21-page set of rules in order to obtain press credentials and access to the Pentagon’s premises.
More than 30 outlets declined to cooperate, including The Associated Press, Bloomberg, Politico, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Reuters, CNN, and more.
Conservative news outlets like Fox News and Newsmax – both favoured by US President Donald Trump – also declined to sign the rules.
The Pentagon Press Association, which represents more than 100 news outlets, said in a statement Tuesday that the Department of Defense had started confiscating media badges “from virtually every news organisation in America”.
“It did this because reporters would not sign onto a new media policy over its implicit threat of criminalising national security reporting and exposing those who sign it to potential prosecution,” the press group said.
Media outlets have announced they will continue to report on the Pentagon, albeit without direct access to the building and news briefings.
The Pentagon’s new rules restrict the ability of reporters to move around the building, engage with staff, and “solicit information” from sources, according to a Pentagon memo posted online by The New York Times.
They also try to restrict the media’s ability to publish classified and even some kinds of unclassified information, although this right is protected by a 1971 Supreme Court ruling.
The case, New York Times v United States, protected the rights of The New York Times and The Washington Post to publish the Pentagon Papers at the height of the Vietnam War.
Previous guidelines from the Pentagon fit on a single page. They primarily concerned protocols for entering the Pentagon premises and storing personal property, according to another document shared by The New York Times.
The changes to Pentagon reporting rules were first introduced by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host, in September.
They were met with immediate criticism because they appeared to make journalists legally liable for reporting on the Pentagon.
A revised version of the rules toned down some of the language, but media outlets say they still violate their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
The Pentagon played down media concerns in a statement on Monday.
“The policy does not ask for them to agree, just to acknowledge that they understand what our policy is. This has caused reporters to have a full-blown meltdown, crying victim online. We stand by our policy because it’s what’s best for our troops and the national security of this country,” said Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell.
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