has demanded<\/a> that the Defense Department \u201crescind these measures immediately\u201d and urged all journalists and press freedom advocates \u201cto join us in unified opposition and resist this latest attempt to muzzle the press and deny the American people the transparency and accountability they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\nPentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell pushed back on the concerns from media outlets over the new policy. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt should come as no surprise that the mainstream media is once again misrepresenting the Pentagon\u2019s press procedures,\u201d he wrote Wednesday on X. <\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s be absolutely clear: journalists are not required to clear their stories with us. This claim is a lie,\u201d he added. \u201cHave an escort in sensitive areas. Wear a press credential. Don\u2019t encourage our people to violate DoW policy. Pretty simple.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a letter responding to concerns from the Reporters Committee, Parnell said rules about the release of information applied to Pentagon employees, not to reporters. However, he said press access could be impacted if reporters are involved in violations of rules related to classified national security information (CNSI) and controlled unclassified information (CUI).<\/p>\n
\u201cReceipt of unsolicited information and subsequent publication-even of CNSI or CUI-is generally constitutionally protected and would not normally, on its own, trigger revocation. However, in rare, extreme cases where publication recklessly endangers American lives, it could factor into an assessment of whether continued unescorted access to the Pentagon poses a security risk,\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n
\u201cMoreover, if a reporter solicits the gathering and providing of such information for use in the reporter’s work or is otherwise aware of and encourages the actions, such actions may also weigh in this consideration. This aligns with First Amendment precedent, including that which holds that the First Amendment does not immunize conduct facilitating legal violations, while preserving broad protections for publication.\u201d<\/p>\n
SPJ called the Pentagon’s response “disingenuous.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThe language within its own memo is clear, stating that all information \u2018must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.\u2019 That is not normal press procedure \u2014 it is prior restraint,” it said in a statement Thursday. <\/p>\n
“Journalists are not employees of the Department of War. They should never be asked to abide by restrictions intended for government staff. Suggesting otherwise is a dangerous blurring of roles that undermines critical independent reporting.”<\/p>\n
The government and the press have long butted heads over the publication of secret or sensitive information, most notably with the publication of the Pentagon Papers in 1971. The documents, which were labeled \u201cTop Secret \u2014 Sensitive,\u201d laid bare the fact that the Lyndon B. Johnson administration for years had misled the public about the course of the Vietnam War. The papers\u2019 publication by The New York Times and later The Washington Post led to a landmark Supreme Court fight that upheld the First Amendment\u2019s guarantee of freedom of the press.<\/p>\n
The Pentagon\u2019s new rules take a further step by seeking to restrict reporting on unclassified information. <\/p>\n
George Washington University law professor and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley on Monday warned that the Pentagon press policy may be a \u201cbridge too far\u201d as there is no precedent for such rules on reporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat they’re basically saying is if you publish anything that’s not in the press release, is not the official statement of the Pentagon, you could be held responsible under this policy,\u201d he said Monday on Fox News\u2019s \u201cSpecial Report.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThat is going to create a stranglehold on the free press. And the cost is too great.\u201d<\/p>\n
The controversy has even caught the attention of television host Jimmy Kimmel, who returned to the airwaves on Tuesday after executives at ABC parent company Disney pulled \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d off the air last week over his comments about the suspected shooter of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey want to pick and choose what the news is. I know that\u2019s not as interesting as muzzling a comedian, but it\u2019s so important to have a free press and it is nuts that we aren\u2019t paying more attention to it,\u201d Kimmel said of the new Pentagon restrictions in his opening monologue.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear if the new restrictions have the backing of President Trump. Asked on Sunday if the Pentagon should decide what the media can cover, he replied, \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think so. Nothing stops reporters.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new rules are a continuation of Hegseth\u2019s crackdown on press access and accommodations in the Pentagon \u2014 despite often boasting about transparency. <\/p>\n
His office in late January booted four outlets from their Pentagon workspaces in favor of other media outlets, including Breitbart News and One America News Network, that have seemingly given the Trump administration more favorable coverage. When reporters complained to Hegseth\u2019s office about the move, officials removed four additional news outlets, including The Hill, from their desks.<\/p>\n
Hegseth, a former Fox News host, in May made certain hallways of the Pentagon off-limits to journalists without an official escort \u2014 a major change as reporters previously had access throughout much of the building without an escort.<\/p>\n
The new memo seems to further limit reporters\u2019 movement, noting that if news outlets require access to other areas or offices within the Pentagon for in-person interviews or other engagements, \u201cthey must be escorted to and from those spaces by authorized\u201d personnel.<\/p>\n
In addition, Hegseth has made the Pentagon press briefing room off-limits to reporters unless a briefing is taking place. The room had previously served as a place for reporters without a dedicated workspace to gain access to the internet to file stories from within the building. <\/p>\n
So far, Hegseth and his press officials have held fewer than 10 on-the-record briefings since the start of the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Media outlets and organizations are preparing for a battle over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth\u2019s new rules restricting press access at the Pentagon. Legal experts and media advocates say the new policy appears to mark an unprecedented attack on press freedom, pointing to a provision that restricts the release of even unclassified information. The Pentagon says […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":667,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions\/667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}