At least 30 media outlets have rejected Pentagon’s new rules for press coverage, - Reuters
At least 30 media organizations have refused to accept the Pentagon's new rules on journalists' access to information, even at the risk of losing their accreditation with the US Department of Defense.
This was reported by Reuters, according to Censor.NET, citing "UP".
As noted, the Pentagon's new policy requires journalists to acknowledge press access rules, including that they may be deemed a security threat and stripped of their Pentagon press badges if they ask agency employees to disclose classified and some unclassified information.
In addition to Reuters, the following media outlets have refused to accept the Pentagon's conditions, citing a threat to press freedom: Associated Press, Bloomberg News, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, CBS, NBC, ABC, NPR, Axios, Politico, The Guardian, The Atlantic, The Hill, Newsmax, Breaking Defense, and Task & Purpose.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said, "The policy does not ask for them (the media - Ed.) to agree, just to acknowledge that they understand what our policy is."
This provoked a stormy reaction from journalists.
The Pentagon has set a deadline of Tuesday for the media to agree to these requirements or surrender their Pentagon press passes and vacate their workstations at the agency by Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump, who was asked about the new policy on Tuesday, told reporters that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth "finds the press to be very disruptive in terms of world peace and maybe security for our nation."
Hegseth called the requirements "common sense," adding that "we're trying to make sure national security is respected."
At the same time, according to the publication, the media does not challenge restrictions on journalists' access to restricted areas of the Pentagon. According to the Pentagon Press Association, accredited journalists usually only had access to open areas.
All five major television and radio companies belonging to the Pentagon Press Association issued a joint statement on Tuesday saying: "Today, we join virtually every other news organization in declining to agree to the Pentagon's new requirements, which would restrict journalists' ability to keep the nation and the world informed of important national security issues.
The policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections. We will continue to cover the U.S. military as each of our organizations has done for many decades, upholding the principles of a free and independent press."
