The Defense Department has announced a “next generation” Pentagon press corps made up mostly of influencers, conservative activists and right-wing news sites. More than 60 of them signed a controversial media-access policy, according to chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell.
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The announcement follows a mass walkout by legacy Pentagon reporters who declined to sign a 21-page access policy that took effect last week. Reporters from television networks, including CNN and Fox News, as well as from major newspapers and wire services, turned in credentials to cover the Pentagon due to First Amendment concerns.
The policy bars journalists from soliciting information the department hasn’t authorized for release, including unclassified details, The Washington Post reported. The New York Times noted that the final draft states that First Amendment protections do not allow reporters to “solicit government employees to violate the law by providing confidential government information.”
Who signed, and who refused
In a statement on X, Parnell said 26 previously credentialed journalists from 18 outlets agreed to the new rules. Those outlets include One America News Network, The Federalist, and The Epoch Times.
The new signatories primarily represent right-leaning and influencer outlets such as The Gateway Pundit, Human Events, The Post Millennial, The National Pulse and The Washington Reporter.
Others include Frontlines, a website operated by Turning Point USA, the conservative political organization founded by Charlie Kirk. The website says it “exposes evil and presses truth.”
In addition, a reporter for LindellTV, founded by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, is now credentialed to cover the Pentagon. Lindell was a prominent proponent of the conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen from President Donald Trump, and he recently lost a defamation suit filed by an employee of a voting machine company.
Other conservative outlets — such as Fox News, Newsmax, the Washington Times, the Washington Examiner and The Daily Caller — declined to comply with the new policy, The Hill reported.
Parnell praised the new group as “a broad spectrum of new media outlets and independent journalists.
“New media outlets and independent journalists have created the formula to circumvent the lies of the mainstream media and get real news directly to the American people,” Parnell said on X.
The Pentagon Press Association called the policy “an unprecedented message of intimidation.”
The Pentagon declined to release a full list of signatories, The Hill reported. Meanwhile, outlets that walked out say they will continue aggressive coverage of U.S. military operations from outside the building.
