The Pentagon has announced that journalists with credentials at the military headquarters will have to sign a commitment not to report any information unless it has been approved for release, including unclassified details.
Journalists who fail to comply with this policy could see their access to the Pentagon revoked, according to a 17-page memo released on Friday. This memo intensifies the media restrictions that were set during President Donald Trump’s administration.
The directive states, “Information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.” Those signing the form agree to adhere to various security requirements while at the Pentagon.
Advocates for press freedom have criticized this non-disclosure demand as a threat to independent journalism. These new restrictions come as Trump continues to challenge, through threats, lawsuits, and governmental pressure, the existing structure of American media.
“If military news needs prior government approval, then the public receives not independent reporting but only what officials permit to release,” stated National Press Club President Mike Balsamo, who also works with The Associated Press. “Every American should be concerned.”
Hegseth says no more permission to ‘roam the halls’
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News Channel personality, highlighted the restrictions in a social media post on X.
“The ‘press’ doesn’t govern the Pentagon; it’s the people’s institution. The press is no longer permitted to wander freely inside a protected site,” said Hegseth. “Wear a badge, follow the rules, or leave.”
The Pentagon this year has evicted many news organizations while imposing a series of restrictions on the press that include banning reporters from entering wide swaths of the Pentagon without a government escort – areas where the press had access in past administrations as it covers the activities of the world’s most powerful military.
The Pentagon was embarrassed early in Hegseth’s tenure when the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently included in a group chat on the Signal messaging app where the Defense secretary discussed plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen. Trump’s former national security adviser, Mike Waltz, took responsibility for Goldberg being included and was shifted to another job.
The Defense Department also was embarrassed by a leak to The New York Times that billionaire Elon Musk was to get a briefing on the U.S. military’s plans in case a war broke out with China. That briefing never took place, on Trump’s orders, and Hegseth suspended two Pentagon officials as part of an investigation into how that news got out.
Media organizations clap back
On Saturday, the Society of Professional Journalists also objected to the Pentagon’s move, calling it “alarming.”
“This policy reeks of prior restraint – the most egregious violation of press freedom under the First Amendment – and is a dangerous step toward government censorship,” it said in a statement Saturday. “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.”
And Matt Murray, executive editor of The Washington Post, said in the paper’s columns Saturday that the new policy runs counter to what’s good for the American public.
“The Constitution protects the right to report on the activities of democratically elected and appointed government officials,” Murray said. “Any attempt to control messaging and curb access by the government is counter to the First Amendment and against the public interest.”
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