Overview

• A Sept. 19, 17-page memo requires journalists seeking or renewing Pentagon credentials to sign a form acknowledging that department information must be approved for public release even if it is unclassified.
• Newsrooms and press-freedom groups are coordinating legal and policy responses, with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press securing a meeting with defense officials and the Society of Professional Journalists calling for immediate rescission.
• Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell says reporters are not required to clear stories and that the approval rules target employees, though he notes extreme cases or soliciting leaks could factor into decisions on unescorted access.
• Reporters have been told refusal to sign could result in loss of access within two weeks, and the memo states press credentials may be denied, revoked, or not renewed for unauthorized disclosures.
• The fight follows months of tightened access—desk reassignments to friendlier outlets, escort requirements, and restricted use of the briefing room—and unfolds as Secretary Pete Hegseth orders roughly 800 senior officers to a closed meeting at a Virginia Marine base.