{"id":306481,"date":"2025-10-15T22:34:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T22:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/306481\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T22:34:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T22:34:10","slug":"journalists-exit-pentagon-rather-than-agree-to-new-reporting-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/306481\/","title":{"rendered":"Journalists exit Pentagon rather than agree to new reporting rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Dozens of reporters turned in access badges and exited the Pentagon on Wednesday rather than agree to government-imposed restrictions on their work<\/a>, pushing journalists who cover the American military further from the seat of its power. The nation\u2019s leadership called the new rules \u201ccommon sense\u201d to help regulate a \u201cvery disruptive\u201d press. <\/p>\n

News outlets were nearly unanimous in rejecting new rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on information \u2014 classified or otherwise \u2014 that had not been approved by Hegseth for release.<\/p>\n

Many of the reporters waited to leave together at a 4 p.m. deadline set by the Defense Department to get out of the building. As the hour approached, boxes of documents lined a Pentagon corridor and reporters carried chairs, a copying machine, books and old photos to the parking lot from suddenly abandoned workspaces. Shortly after 4, about 40 to 50 journalists left together after handing in badges.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sad, but I\u2019m also really proud of the press corps that we stuck together,\u201d said Nancy Youssef, a reporter for The Atlantic who has had a desk at the Pentagon since 2007. She took a map of the Middle East out to her car.<\/p>\n

It is unclear what practical impact the new rules will have, though news organizations vowed they\u2019d continue robust coverage of the military no matter the vantage point. <\/p>\n

Images of reporters effectively demonstrating against barriers to their work are unlikely to move supporters of President Donald Trump, many of whom resent journalists and cheer his efforts to make their jobs harder. Trump has been involved in court fights against The New York Times<\/a>, CBS News<\/a>, ABC News<\/a>, the Wall Street Journal<\/a> and The Associated Press<\/a> in the past year.<\/p>\n

Trump supports the new rules<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump backed his defense secretary\u2019s new rules. \u201cI think he finds the press to be very disruptive in terms of world peace,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThe press is very dishonest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even before issuing his new press policy, Hegseth, a former Fox News Channel host, has systematically choked off<\/a> the flow of information. He\u2019s held only two formal press briefings, banned reporters from accessing many parts of the sprawling Pentagon without an escort and launched investigations into leaks to the media.<\/p>\n

He has called his new rules \u201ccommon sense\u201d and said the requirement that journalists sign a document outlining the rules means they acknowledge the new rules, not necessarily agree to them. Journalists see that as a distinction without a difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat they\u2019re really doing, they want to spoon-feed information to the journalist, and that would be their story. That\u2019s not journalism,\u201d said Jack Keane, a retired U.S. Army general and Fox News analyst, said on Hegseth\u2019s former network.<\/p>\n

When he served, Keane said he required new brigadier generals to take a class on the role of the media in a democracy so they wouldn\u2019t be intimidated and also see reporters as a conduit to the American public. \u201cThere were times when stories were done that made me flinch a little bit,\u201d he said. \u201cBut that\u2019s usually because we had done something that wasn\u2019t as good as we should have done it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Youssef said it made no sense to sign on to rules<\/a> that said reporters should not solicit military officials for information. \u201cTo agree to not solicit information is to agree to not be a journalist,\u201d she said. \u201cOur whole goal is soliciting information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reporting on US military affairs will continue \u2014 from a greater distance<\/p>\n

Several reporters posted on social media when they turned in their press badges.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a tiny thing, but I was really proud to see my picture up on the wall of Pentagon correspondents,\u201d wrote Heather Mongilio, a reporter for USNINews, which covers the Navy. \u201cToday, I\u2019ll hand in my badge. The reporting will continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mongilio, Youssef and others emphasized that they\u2019ll continue to do their jobs no matter where their desks are. Some sources will continue to speak with them, although they say some in the military have been chilled by threats from Pentagon leadership.<\/p>\n

In an essay, NPR reporter Tom Bowman noted the many times he\u2019d been tipped off by people he knew from the Pentagon and while embedded in the military about what was happening, even if it contradicted official lines put out by leadership. Many understand the media\u2019s role.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey knew the American public deserved to know what\u2019s going on,\u201d Bowman wrote. \u201cWith no reporters able to ask questions, it seems the Pentagon leadership will continue to rely on slick social media posts, carefully orchestrated short videos and interviews with partisan commentators and podcasters. No one should think that\u2019s good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pentagon Press Association, whose 101 members represent 56 news outlets, has spoken out against the rules. Organizations from across the media spectrum, from legacy organizations like The Associated Press and The New York Times to conservative outlets like Fox and Newsmax, told their reporters to leave instead of signing the new rules.<\/p>\n

Only the conservative One America News Network signed on. Its management likely believes it will have greater access to Trump administration officials by showing its support, Gabrielle Cuccia, a former Pentagon reporter who was fired by OANN<\/a> earlier this year for writing an online column criticizing Hegseth\u2019s media policies, told the AP in an interview.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press reporter Laurie Kellman in London contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http:\/\/x.com\/dbauder<\/a> and https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/dbauder.bsky.social<\/a><\/p>\n