READ: Major TV Networks Issue Joint Statement Rejecting Trump Pentagon’s New Press Policy
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
The three major networks, as well as cable news channels CNN and Fox News, banded together on Tuesday to reject the Pentagon’s new press rules, which the outlets said threaten “core journalistic protections” in a joint statement.
You can read the full statement below, from ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News Media, and NBC News:
Today, we join virtually every other news organization in declining to agree to the Pentagon’s new requirements, which would restrcit 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 rebuke comes after the Pentagon recently updated its rules for credentialed journalists. That update said reporters who ask military personnel and Department of Defense officials to leak information could be deemed “security risks,” and risk having their credentials revoked.
The Pentagon revised its update after reporters and press groups were upset with a draft of new rules circulated last month. That draft called for reporters to get approval from Defense Department officials before publishing stories, even if they contained unclassified information. Failing to receive approval could lead to reporters losing their credentials, the draft said.
Tuesday’s joint statement showed the Pentagon’s updated rules, even after its recent changes, is not acceptable to the major networks.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, during an interview with Peter Doocy on Fox News earlier this month, slammed reporters for looking to publish classified documents.
“When someone is providing information that’s otherwise classified or otherwise not for disclosure, that’s a problem. So, we’re doing everything we can protocol-wise to make sure those are minimized,” Hegseth said.
The Pentagon’s new rules do not require credentialed journalists to get approval before publishing non-public information. It does require news organizations and reporters to acknowledge its updated policies within one week and sign that they agree to them, “even if I do not necessarily agree with such policies and procedures.”
One America News is the only outlet to agree to the Pentagon’s new rules so far.
