In a significant stand for press freedom, major US and international news organizations have overwhelmingly refused to sign the Pentagon's new restrictive media rules, a move that will see them lose their press credentials and fundamentally change how the US military is covered .
The new policy, championed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, required journalists to sign a pledge not to obtain or use information that has not been pre-approved for release, even if it is unclassified . This demand was rejected by a virtually united news media industry.
Major broadcast and cable networks, including ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News Media, and NBC News, issued a joint statement condemning the rules as "without precedent" and threatening "core journalistic protections" . This sentiment was echoed by leading print and wire services such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, Reuters, and NPR . The BBC also joined the refusal .
The resistance crossed ideological lines, with conservative outlets like Newsmax and the Washington Times also declining to sign, calling the requirements "unnecessary and onerous" . The only major outlet known to have accepted the rules is the far-right One America News (OAN) .
The Pentagon Press Association (PPA) stated that the new policy "gags Pentagon employees and threatens retaliation against reporters who seek out information that has not been pre-approved for release" . It conveys "an unprecedented message of intimidation" to Defense Department personnel, suggesting that unapproved conversations with the press could be criminal, which the PPA notes "plainly, it is not" .
Reporters who did not sign the agreement by the October 13 deadline must turn in their press credentials, losing their physical access to the Pentagon building . For decades, this access has allowed journalists to build sources and report independently on the world's largest military . News organizations have stated they will continue to cover the Pentagon without credentials, but their ability to gather information will be severely hampered .
The new credentialing rules are the latest in a series of moves under Secretary Hegseth to limit media scrutiny. Earlier this year, the Pentagon ejected several long-standing news outlets from their dedicated workspace inside the building, including The New York Times, CNN, NBC News, and NPR . These spots were reallocated to a rotation that included predominantly conservative outlets .
Furthermore, the Defense Department has drastically reduced official briefings. Under the current administration, the Pentagon has held only about half a dozen briefings this year, a sharp decline from the average of two or more per week under the previous Biden administration.
The push for stricter control over information comes amid scrutiny of Secretary Hegseth's own handling of sensitive data. Earlier this year, he shared detailed information about forthcoming US airstrikes in Yemen in a private Signal group chat that included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer, none of whom were government officials with a need to know the operational details.
This incident occurred just months after Hegseth was involved in another Signal leak, where a journalist from The Atlantic was mistakenly added to a different chat in which the secretary shared specific timing and asset information about the same Yemen strikes . The Pentagon's inspector general has completed an investigation into Hegseth's use of Signal, though the findings are not yet public . Critics have pointed to these incidents as evidence that the new press rules are less about security and more about suppressing independent oversight.