Nearly every major media outlet is refusing to sign a pledge crafted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would require Pentagon reporters to agree not to publish “unauthorized” material—effectively prohibiting journalists from publishing anything unless the Trump administration okays it first.
Hegseth sent reporters a loyalty pledge three weeks ago and gave them until Tuesday to sign his authoritarian oath to not report anything he doesn’t approve of. If reporters did not sign, Hegseth warned they could lose their media credentials at the Pentagon.
“Pentagon access is a privilege, not a right. So, here is @DeptofWar press credentialing FOR DUMMIES,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X on Monday. “Press no longer roams free. Press must wear visible badge. Credentialed press no longer permitted to solicit criminal acts. DONE. Pentagon now has same rules as every U.S military installation.”
But on deadline day, media outlets and the reporters who work for them are refusing to sign the pledge. That even includes Fox News—the right-wing propaganda network Hegseth worked at before he was unfortunately plucked from cable news obscurity and confirmed to lead the Pentagon.
“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,” CNN, Fox News Media, NBC News, ABC News, and CBS News wrote in a joint statement. “The policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections. We will continue to cover the U.S. military as each of our organizations has done for many decades, upholding the principles of a free and independent press.
Reporters who refused to sign said that they have never been able to roam willy-nilly around the Pentagon, as Hegseth accused them of doing. And they said his pledge would turn them into mouthpieces, gagging them from reporting on information the public deserves.
“Today, NPR will lose access to the Pentagon because we will not sign an unprecedented Defense Department document, which warns that journalists may lose their press credentials for ‘soliciting’ even unclassified information from federal employees that has not been officially approved for release,” NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman wrote in an op-ed. “That policy prevents us from doing our job. Signing that document would make us stenographers parroting press releases, not watchdogs holding government officials accountable.”
The only media outlet that has signed Hegseth’s pledge is One America News—the right-wing “media” outlet that is basically a propaganda arm of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Earlier this year, a One America News “reporter” was fired from the network after she correctly pointed out that Hegseth hasn’t held a press briefing since he was confirmed.
Hegseth, for his part, is obsessed with leaks following multiple reports of his incompetence, including when he was caught in a scandal earlier this year discussing classified war planning information on an unsecure Signal chat.
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In April, he even threatened to give his staff polygraph tests to stop leaks from within his department.
But as the reports of his chaotic reign of terror continue, Hegseth is now targeting the media outlets who dare to report the leaked information. It’s a desperate attempt to stop the articles that accurately report on his ineptitude.
Ultimately, this is the first time that media organizations are actually banding together to stand up to the Trump regime’s authoritarian efforts to silence anyone who dares to report facts that make the administration look bad.
Unlike the White House press corps, which has allowed Trump to ban outlets who report things he doesn’t like from briefings and trips, the Pentagon press corps has collectively decided to fight back against the administration’s trampling of their First Amendment rights.
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“Our members did nothing to create this disturbing situation,” the Pentagon Press Association wrote Monday in a statement. “It arises from an entirely one-sided move by Pentagon officials apparently intent upon cutting the American public off from information they do not control and pre-approve—information concerning such issues as sexual assault in the military, conflicts of interest, corruption, or waste and fraud in billion-dollar programs.”
“There is simply no need for this battle,” the PPA continued. “The Pentagon has no reason for the new acknowledgement other than to chill both reporters and their sources—something many of our members cannot abide.”
Memo the mainstream media: More of this, please.
