Journalists switch access badges, walk out of Pentagon rather than agree to new reporting rules

Dozens of journalists put on access badges and walked out pentagon On Wednesday, instead of agreeing to government-imposed restrictions on their work, journalists covering the area were pressured American The army is further away from its place of strength. The US government has called the new rules “common sense.”

News outlets were almost unanimous in rejecting the new rules imposed by the Secretary of Defense pete hegseth This could leave journalists facing expulsion if they seek to report on information, classified or otherwise, that has not been approved by Hegseth for release.

Many journalists were waiting to leave the building en masse at the 4 pm deadline set by the Defense Department. As the time approached, boxes of documents lined up in the Pentagon corridor and reporters suddenly took chairs, a copying machine, books and old photographs from abandoned workplaces to the parking lot. Shortly after 4 o’clock, about 40 to 50 journalists handed over their badges and left together.

“It’s sad, but I’m also proud of the press corps that we stuck together,” said Nancy Youssef, a reporter for The Atlantic who has had a desk at the Pentagon since 2007. She carried a map of the Middle East in her car.

Still, images of journalists effectively demonstrating against the obstacles they face in doing their work are unlikely to sway the president’s supporters. donald trumpMany of whom are angry at journalists and appreciate his efforts to make their jobs difficult. Trump has been involved in court battles against The New York Times, CBS News, ABC News wall street journal And last year the Associated Press.