Major Networks, CNN, Newsmax and NPR Reject Pentagon Press Policy
The news divisions of the four major networks and CNN released a statement Tuesday rejecting a new restrictive press access policy from the Pentagon. NPR and Newsmax released similar statements Monday, and numerous print publications -- including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal -- have also opposed the policy. “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,” said the joint statement from ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News Media and NBC News.
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Under the new policy, administration officials could revoke journalists’ access to the Pentagon for seeking information from DOD employees that hasn’t been released by the agency. It would give “the Administration final say over what can and cannot be reported about our military and its actions,” said NPR in its statement. “The role of a free press is to remain objective and share information not subject to influence. If reporting about the American military is pre-approved by the military, the public is not getting real reporting -- it is getting only what officials want the public to see.” Newsmax “has long advocated for its First Amendment rights, which include a free press and free speech," the network said. "We believe those rights extend to all press institutions, even ones we disagree with. We believe Newsmax has the right to publish classified information without permission of the government. We cannot sign a letter that says we do not."
Pentagon access “is a privilege, not a right,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday in a post on X. He described the policy changes as preventing the press from freely roaming the Pentagon and requiring visible badges, adding that “credentialed press [are] no longer permitted to solicit criminal acts.”