Only 15 reporters remain in Pentagon after press pledge prompted walkouts. This is who they are
The journalists who signed the new Pentagon press policy
- Only 15 out of hundreds of credentialed reporters signed the US Defense Department’s new restrictive press policy.
- A key rule in the 21-page policy was a ban on reporters soliciting any information, classified or otherwise, from government employees without prior authorization from the Pentagon.
- Dozens of print and broadcast journalists handed in their access badges Wednesday and walked out of the Pentagon together.
- Reporters who signed the press pledge were primarily from pro-Trump outlets like One America News, The Federalist, and The Epoch Times, along with freelancers from foreign-based organizations and little-known independent websites.
- The Pentagon Press Association, representing around 100 journalists, condemned the policy as an "unprecedented message of intimidation" and urged the department to reverse course over its assault on press freedom.