Fox News And Broadcast Networks Reject Pentagon Press Policy

The major broadcast networks, along with Fox News and CNN, issued a joint statement opposing the Pentagon‘s new restrictions on press access to the complex, concluding that it is “without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections.”

The statement, from NBC News, CBS News and ABC News along with the cable networks, said, “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.”

MSNBC, which has been building its own news organization with the split from Comcast pending, also will not sign, a spokesperson said.

The new policy is being driven by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the former host of Fox News’ Fox & Friends Weekend, who has claimed that it is no different that policies at other U.S. military facilities.

The Pentagon has given reporters until the end of the day on Tuesday to sign, but so far only One America News Network has said that it would. Other outlets have said that the restrictions put reporters at the risk of losing their press credentials if they don’t agree to seek out only Pentagon approved material in their reporting. “Signing that document would make us stenographers parroting press releases, not watchdogs holding government officials accountable,” NPR’s Tom Bowman, credentialed for the Pentagon for 28 years, wrote in an essay published on Tuesday.

A host of other news outlets, from The Atlantic to Newsmax, also have refused to sign the policy.

The Associated Press also said that it would not sign, saying that “it undermines the First Amendment and AP’s core values as an independent global news organization. The restrictions impede the public’s access to information about their government and limit the people’s right to know.”

More to come.