Overview

• Andrew Thornebrooke resigned Friday after The Epoch Times agreed to the Pentagon’s updated media-access conditions, calling the decision a surrender to state narratives.
• The Epoch Times is among a small group of U.S. outlets reported as three to accept the policy, with editor in chief Jasper Fakkert arguing the rules do not impede the paper’s reporting.
• Major television networks and other large outlets have rejected the policy, and roughly 40 to 50 journalists vacated in-building press spaces after declining to sign.
• The updated rules require reporters and outlets to acknowledge the policy within a week, allow officials to label those who solicit nonpublic information as security risks, and tighten movement through expanded escorted-access requirements.
• In his letter, Thornebrooke accused the outlet of promoting partisan and false material and noted he lacked an active Pentagon press pass despite frequently reporting from the building.