Dozens of reporters turned in access badges and exited the Pentagon on Wednesday rather than agree to government-imposed restrictions on their work, pushing journalists who cover the American military further from the seat of its power. The nation’s leadership called the new rules “common sense” to help regulate a “very disruptive” press.
News outlets were nearly unanimous in rejecting new rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on information — classified or otherwise — that had not been approved by Hegseth for release.
Many of the reporters waited to leave together at a 4 p.m. deadline set by the Defense Department to get out of the building. As the hour approached, boxes of documents lined a Pentagon corridor and reporters carried chairs, a copying machine, books and old photos to the parking lot from suddenly abandoned workspaces. Shortly after 4, about 40 to 50 journalists left together after handing in badges.
Due diligence is checking your facts and sources are correct. Journalistic integrity is reporting on the truth even when its disadvantageous. None of those are broken by AP. They covered all the facts of the story.
If they didn’t list all of the orgs that complied (which they did anyway), they would not have been covering all of the facts of the story.
If you can’t wrap your head around that simple concept, you are someone that isn’t worth engaging with.