The Department of Defense has introduced a new press policy requiring the Pentagon to authorize any reporting on itself. Top TV news outlets have rejected the pledge; only the far-right outlet One America News has agreed to sign on. Dozens of reporters with the Pentagon Press Association turned in their government-issued press badges and left the building Wednesday rather than agree to the rules. “The Trump administration has made the suppression of speech that it doesn’t like a governing principle since it took office,” says David Schulz, who advised the Pentagon Press Association on their response. He warns the “desire of the Pentagon officials to control what is said about them” is “alarming” and signals a major rupture in U.S. press freedoms.
