Pentagon Demands Reporters Sign Pledge on Information Use
The Department of War aims to prevent leaks by requiring journalists to pledge against reporting unauthorized information, risking credential loss, amid rising concerns over national security.
- On Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unveiled unprecedented restrictions on Pentagon reporters in a 17-page memo, with rules taking effect next week as badges expire over two to three weeks.
- Pentagon officials point to recent leaks and firings, noting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired three senior appointees and ousted major outlets NBC News, The New York Times and NPR after Signalgate involving Jeffrey Goldberg.
- Under the new requirements, reporters will be confined to escorted areas, swap badges for bright red or orange media passes, and face suspension or revocation for violations.
- Mike Balsamo said `This is a direct assault on independent journalism at the very place where independent scrutiny matters most: the US military,` and press groups called the policy's press freedom implications 'extremely troubling,' Starr warned.
- The rules mark a sharp break with decades of tradition, and if reporters refuse the pledge, major national news outlets would lose 24-7 access to unclassified Pentagon spaces, Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said this aligns with other military base protocols.
373 Articles
373 Articles
Pentagon expands press restrictions, approval now required to report info
According to a 17-page memo from the Department of Defense, journalists can no longer gather or report information from the Pentagon, even if it's unclassified, without government approval. Reporters who refuse to sign the pledge, will have their Pentagon credentials revoked. Former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance, Political White House and Foreign Affairs Correspondent Eli Stokols and President of Elevation Global Strategies and former VP for The Pen…
Trump’s New Restrictions On Pentagon Reporters ‘Should Alarm Every American’
by Matt Agorist, The Free Thought Project: (Common Dreams) Journalists and defenders of press freedom are expressing alarm and condemnation after the Pentagon, under the command of President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, announced new restrictions on reporters that include pre-approval of stories that include even unclassified material and a new pledge not to publish […]
Pentagon press clampdown under Trump sparks first amendment alarm
Journalists and free press advocates warn that new Pentagon restrictions requiring pre-approval of even unclassified information represent a dangerous assault on democratic oversight, despite Trump’s claim that “nothing stops reporters.”
The Pentagon imposes new restrictions on reporters and so officially wants "to maintain public trust." What the real reasons are.
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