Major News Outlets Push Aside Pentagon’s Press Policy

Although President Donald Trump has been in office for just nine months, his administration has transformed the face of the executive branch while making strong demands with almost immediate results.. With several major news organizations capitulating to President Trump’s desire to control the flow of mainstream media reports, many major news outlets joined together in not signing what they viewed as a restrictive Pentagon press policy.

As reported by Reuters, over two dozen news organizations joined together and elected not to sign a Pentagon press policy agreement which states that journalists could be noted as security risks and lose access to the Pentagon press room if they press staff to share information not meant for the public, even if the information is unclassified.

Joining Reuters in not signing the agreement were 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, The Hill, Newsmax, Breaking Defense, and Task & Purpose.

ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News Media, and NBC News, the five major broadcast networks, delivered a joint statement that reads as follows:

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. 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.

The deadline for the signing of the Pentagon’s press policy agreement was Tuesday (October 14), with journalists required to clear their workstations inside the building by the close of business.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said of the policy that it “does not ask for them to agree, just to acknowledge that they understand what our policy is. This has caused reporters to have a full blown meltdown, crying victim online. We stand by our policy because it’s what’s best for our troops and the national security of this country.”

—

Photo: Getty