AP Photo/Kevin Wolf
The association representing journalists who cover the U.S. military accused the Pentagon of sending an “unprecedented message of intimidation” with its new press restrictions.
CNN reporter Natasha Bertrand shared a lengthy statement from the Pentagon Press Association (PPA) on X on Wednesday, two days after the Pentagon updated its rules for credentialed journalists. That update said reporters who ask military personnel and Department of Defense officials to leak information could be deemed “security risks” and risk having their credentials revoked.
Here is what the PPA said about it:
The new credentialing policy also leaves open the threat of the Department of Defense revoking credentials for reporters who exercise their First Amendment rights by seeking information that hasn’t been pre-approved for formal release, even when the information is entirely unclassified. The policy conveys an unprecedented message of intimidation to everyone with the DoD, warning against any unapproved interactions with the press and even suggesting it’s criminal to speak without express permission — which plainly, it is not.
The Pentagon’s update to its rules on Monday came after reporters and press groups were upset with a draft of new rules circulated last month.
That draft called for reporters to get approval from Defense Department officials before publishing stories, even if they contained unclassified information; failing to receive approval could lead to reporters losing their credentials, the draft said.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, during an interview with Peter Doocy on Fox News on Sunday, slammed reporters for looking to publish classified documents.
“When someone is providing information that’s otherwise classified or otherwise not for disclosure, that’s a problem. So, we’re doing everything we can protocol-wise to make sure those are minimized,” Hegseth said.
The Pentagon’s updated rules on Monday do not require credentialed journalists to get approval before publishing non-public information. It does require news organizations and reporters to acknowledge its updated policies within one week and sign that they agree to them, “even if I do not necessarily agree with such policies and procedures.”
The PPA on Wednesday pushed back on that policy, saying the Pentagon is “still asking us to affirm in writing our ‘understanding’ of policies that appear designed to stifle a free press and potentially expose us to prosecution for simply doing our jobs.”
You can read the key slice of the PPA’s statement below:
Let’s be clear about the facts. Pentagon reporters have always worn badges, and continue to do so to this day. Pentagon reporters have always been restricted to unclassified spaces only- the idea that reporters have been prowling in offices where they are not allowed is simply preposterous. And reporters have a constitutional right to ask questions.
Every political administration going back to the 1950s — including the first Trump administration — has allowed the same level of access. This press access has never precipitated the kind of national security crisis feared by the current leadership of the department.
Limiting the media’s ability to report on the U.S. military fails to honor the American families who have entrusted their sons and daughters to serve in it, or the taxpayers responsible for giving the department hundreds of billions of dollars a year. The American people deserve to know how their military is being run. They deserve more information from this administration, not less.
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