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Reporters Turn In Badges and Vacate Pentagon En Masse Rather Than Sign Restrictive Press Policy

HeadlineOct 16, 2025

Dozens of reporters handed in their access badges and walked out of the Pentagon Wednesday instead of agreeing to the Defense Department’s new press policy. The policy states that media outlets and reporters cannot obtain any information that the Pentagon does not explicitly authorize. About 40 to 50 journalists from major news outlets left together before the 4 p.m. deadline. Jack Keane, a retired U.S. Army general and analyst for Fox News, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s former employer, said, “They want to spoon-feed information to the journalist, and that would be their story. That’s not journalism.” Only the One America News Network agreed to sign on to the Pentagon’s new press policy.

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