Fox News aired criticism Monday of controversial new media restrictions at the Pentagon, which will require credentialed journalists to sign a pledge not to report information that hasn’t been authorized for release — even if the information is already unclassified.
The restrictions were detailed in a 17-page memo distributed Friday. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, defended the policy on social media, stating that journalists will no longer be allowed to “roam the halls of a secure facility.”
Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley condemned the restrictions on air.
“Bret, this is actually quite breathtaking in terms of its implications for the free press,” the longtime law professor told “Special Report” host Bret Baier. “There is no precedent for what they’re doing here.”
Turley added that reporters aren’t allowed to roam around freely at, for example, the CIA, but that the Pentagon has had “a long tradition of allowing the media to work with its own representatives in getting the story right,” which sometimes has led to classified information being published.
