US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has sent a \u2018goodbye\u2019 emoji to the outlets protesting his policy<\/p>\n
Media outlets including the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN, AP, and Reuters have said their journalists will not sign new Pentagon press access rules introduced by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
\nUnder the updated policy, journalists could be deemed \u201ca security or safety risk\u201d if they reach out to employees at the recently renamed Department of War for sensitive information to be used in their reporting on the US military. The media workers have been told by the Pentagon to sign the new rules by Tuesday or give up their press passes on Wednesday.
\nThe Washington Post said in a statement on Monday that the proposed rules \u201cundercut First Amendment protections by placing unnecessary constraints\u201d on journalists. The New York Times accused the Pentagon of threatening to punish reporters for \u201cordinary news gathering.\u201d
\nThe Wall Street Journal, CNN, AP, Reuters, NPR, and The Atlantic are also among those to reject the Pentagon\u2019s demand.<\/p>\n
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Broadcaster Newsmax, which is seen as supportive of the administration of US President Donald Trump, said that \u201cwe believe the requirements are unnecessary and onerous and hope that the Pentagon with review the matter further.\u201d
\nMost of the protesting outlets said their journalists will continue to cover the US military thoroughly even if they lose their press credentials.
\nHegseth responded to the refusal to sign the new policy by posting a \u2018goodbye\u2019 emoji on X under the statements by the Washington Post, NYT, and other media organizations.
\nThe secretary of war said on Monday that the rules were about making sure that \u201cpress no longer roams free\u2026 wear visible badge\u2026 [and] no longer permitted to solicit criminal acts.\u201d
\nThe Pentagon Press Association, which represents reporters working at the Department of War, said last week that Hegseth has been \u201csystematically limiting access to information about the US military\u201d since the arrival of the Trump administration at the White House.<\/p>\n
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Hegseth previously removed NBC News, the NYT, and Politico from their office spaces at the Pentagon, although their journalists maintained access to the building. He also banned reporters from accessing most hallways at the Department of War\u2019s headquarters without an official escort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has sent a \u2018goodbye\u2019 emoji to the outlets protesting his policy Media outlets including the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN, AP, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t