Hegseth Restricts Press Access at Pentagon, Says Journalists Will Be Required to Sign Pledge
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has taken yet another step to curtail the work of the press inside the Pentagon by imposing harsh restrictions on where reporters can go without official escort in a memo released late Friday.
The new rules forbid reporters from going into the hallway where Hegseth's office is located "without an official approval and escort from the Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs" -- a job held by top Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.
If reporters wish to visit the public affairs offices of any of the other services, "they are required to be formally escorted to and from those respective offices," the memo adds. The Pentagon will also require reporters to sign a document pledging to protect "sensitive information," likely setting up situations where unfavorable reporting involving documents could be used as pretense to strip journalists of access to the building.
More here: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/05/23/hegseth-restricts-press-access-pentagon-says-journalists-will-be-required-sign-pledge.html?ESRC=eb_250527.nl&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eb&utm_campaign=20250527
Who decides what "sensitive information" is?
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