US news outlets reject Pentagon press access policy

15/10/2025 17:24

At least 20 news organizations declined to sign a new Pentagon access policy for journalists, warning of the potential for less comprehensive coverage of the world's most powerful military ahead of a deadline to accept new restrictions.



The policy requires journalists to acknowledge new rules on press access, including that they could be branded security risks and have their Pentagon press badges revoked if they ask department employees to disclose classified and some types of unclassified information.



Reuters is among the outlets that have refused to sign, citing the threat posed to press freedoms.



Others that have announced their refusal to accept the new press access rules in statements or their own news stories are: the Associated Press, Bloomberg News, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, CBS, NBC, ABC, NPR, Axios, Politico, The Guardian, The Atlantic.



Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement on Monday: "The policy does not ask for them to agree, just to acknowledge that they understand what our policy is.