The Pentagon has amped its regulations in regards to what is being reported. It has stated that it will need credentialed journalists at the military headquarters to sign a pledge to abstain from disseminating any information which may have not been authorized for press release, including unclassified information.
Additionally, journalists who violate this the policy will be at the risk of losing credentials that provide access to the Pentagon. This was outlined in the 17-page memo distributed in September 2025. The recent media restrictions have been levied by the administration of President Donald Trump.
“Information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified” the directive states. The signature form includes a number of security requirements for credentialed media at the Pentagon.
According to reports, advocates for press freedoms have denounced the nondisclosure requirement as an attack on independent journalism.
“If the news about our military must first be approved by the government, then the public is no longer getting independent reporting. It is getting only what officials want them to see,” said National Press Club President Mike Balsamo, also national law enforcement editor at The Associated Press. “That should alarm every American.”
The US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News Channel personality, has mentioned the restrictions in a social media post on X:
The “press” does not run the Pentagon — the people do. The press is no longer allowed to roam the halls of a secure facility. Wear a badge and follow the rules — or go home. pic.twitter.com/nkG1m6bW3z
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) September 19, 2025
“The “press” does not run the Pentagon — the people do. The press is no longer allowed to roam the halls of a secure facility,” Hegseth said. “Wear a badge and follow the rules — or go home.”
Several restrictions have been imposed by the Pentagon, limiting or banning organizations and reporters from entering areas of the Pentagon without a government escort. These areas were previously allowed to the press by past administrations.
The Pentagon was put to shame earlier this year when in Hegseth’s tenure, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, was included in a group chat on the Signal messaging app, where the Defence secretary disclosed the plans for military strikes in Yemen. Trump’s former national security adviser, Mike Waltz, may have been scape goated as the fall guy for Goldberg’s presence and was transferred to another station.
Moreover, another information leak happened in case of The New York Times, where Elon Musk was to get a briefing on the U.S. military’s plans in case of a war with China. However, the supposed briefing never happened on Trump’s orders, and Hegseth fired two Pentagon officials as part of an investigation on the information leak.
The Society of Professional Journalists also objected to the Pentagon’s move, calling it “alarming.”
It said, “This policy reeks of prior restraint — the most egregious violation of press freedom under the First Amendment — and is a dangerous step toward government censorship”.
IT further added that “Attempts to silence the press under the guise of ‘security’ are part of a disturbing pattern of growing government hostility toward transparency and democratic norms.”
Matt Murray, executive editor of The Washington Post, also stated that the new policy may be contrary to what’s good for the American public.
“The Constitution protects the right to report on the activities of democratically elected and appointed government officials,” Murray said. “Any attempt to control messaging and curb access by the government is counter to the First Amendment and against the public interest.”
More on Washington:
The US left the Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan to the Taliban. Now it wants it back, but the Taliban disagree: https://www.thestrategicperspective.org/us-taliban-scrimmage-over-the-afghan-bagram-air-base/
The rare directive by Pete Hegseth to summon all generals and admirals to a base in Quantico, Virginia, for an in-face meeting: https://www.thestrategicperspective.org/hegseths-rare-urgent-directive/
Pete Hegseth as a tool of Trump for his foreign policy: https://www.thestrategicperspective.org/hagseth-heralds-trumps-wars/
The use of Islamic terrorism by Washington to further American interests in the Middle East and beyond: https://www.thestrategicperspective.org/donald-trump-and-islamic-terrorism/
New and old presidents at Capitol Hill seem to rely on terror to control strategically important territories: https://www.thestrategicperspective.org/americas-legacy-of-terror/
