Media outlets refuse Pentagon press policy; must sign or surrender badges

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00:00Today, a showdown over press access at the Pentagon. By 5 p.m., news outlets must sign

00:09a new restrictive media policy or hand over their press badges within 24 hours. The policy

00:15requires reporters to acknowledge they won't seek or solicit any information the Defense

00:20Department has not pre-approved and warns military personnel could face consequences

00:25for unauthorized disclosures. News organizations call that a gag order, saying it violates

00:31First Amendment rights and muzzles reporting on how a nearly trillion-dollar department

00:36spends taxpayer money. Matt Murray, the Washington Post executive editor, said the proposed

00:42restrictions undercut First Amendment protections by placing unnecessary constraints on gathering

00:48and publishing information. A who's who of news organizations, the Washington Post, the New York

00:53Times, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, Reuters, The Atlantic, The Guardian, all say they won't

00:58sign. So do right-leaning outlets, Newsmax, and The Washington Times. Fox News, the former employer

01:05of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has not yet indicated whether they will sign the pledge.

01:10A Pentagon spokesman says reporters are, quote, moving the goalpost, insisting the policy just

01:15requires an acknowledgment, not an agreement, and reminding journalists that access to the

01:20building is a privilege, not a right.