Prominent news outlets reject Pentagon rules before signing deadline [View all]
Source: Washington Post
October 13, 2025 at 2:58 p.m. EDT
Journalists working at The Washington Post, the New York Times and other major news publications will not sign the Defense Department's restrictive new press policy by Tuesday's afternoon deadline. The Atlantic, CNN and the Guardian, along with the trade publication Breaking Defense, have also said they will not sign the new agreement.
Matt Murray, The Post's executive editor, said the policy runs counter to the Constitution's guarantee of freedom of the press. "The proposed restrictions undercut First Amendment protections by placing unnecessary constraints on gathering and publishing information," he wrote in a statement Monday. "We will continue to vigorously and fairly report on the policies and positions of the Pentagon and officials across the government."
The policy says reporters cannot obtain or solicit any information the Defense Department does not explicitly authorize. Any media representatives who do not sign by Tuesday at 5 p.m. will have 24 hours to turn in their press credentials and clear out of the Pentagon facilities. After pushback from reporters, news organizations and press freedom advocacy groups, the Pentagon expanded the prohibitions in the document, earning condemnation last week from the Pentagon Press Association, which represents the Pentagon press corps.
The policy "constrains how journalists can report on the U.S. military, which is funded by nearly $1 trillion in taxpayer dollars annually," said the New York Times' Washington bureau chief, Richard Stevenson. "The public has a right to know how the government and military are operating." The Atlantic's editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, who was added to a Signal group chat including Hegseth earlier this year, said the demands on journalists violate their First Amendment rights. As a result, the magazine's staffers won't sign.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/10/13/prominent-media-reject-new-pentagon-rules-before-signing-deadline/
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REFERENCES
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https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143544059
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