DAVID COOK / OPINION EDITOR

This week, the Pentagon, under the leadership of Pete Hegseth, crossed a line that every American — whether you’re a journalist, a supporter of the current administration or anywhere in between — should care about. 

Dozens of the country’s largest and most respected media outlets, including CNN, The New York Times, ABC,  NBC, CBS,  Fox News  and  many more, all  refused to sign a new “pledge” required by the Department of Defense to maintain press credentials. The agreement would have forced reporters to promise not to seek, share or publish “unauthorized” information. What this really means is that anything that the Pentagon doesn’t want you to know, they hope to keep from  you. 

In response, nearly every major newsroom in America packed up and walked out of the Pentagon press area, leaving it empty. Only one major outlet reportedly agreed to sign: One America News Network — a channel known more for partisan cheerleading of the Trump Administration than independent reporting. The message is simple: if you want access to the Pentagon, you have to play by our rules.

This might just sound like another Washington policy fight, but this is different. It is a test of whether the United States still believes in one of its most sacred principles: freedom of the press. It’s a way to see if Americans and journalists will accept the Pentagon’s new terms of our Constitution, or if they will fight back. 

The  administration   has  tested the waters of authoritarianism on numerous occasions, and this  is   yet     another attempt to see if Americans will fight back for what is  right. Ultimately,  those   in power must  react  to  the  people, and the people deserve to know what the government is doing.

Officials claim that the policy is about national security. They argue that the pledge protects sensitive information and discourages leaks. But, that argument  falls  apart quickly, once you realize the policy  doesn’t just apply to classified material. It extends to unclassified details and even to normal, everyday reporting practices, such as talking to sources or accessing background materials that are not officially “cleared.” 

The Pentagon already has laws, clearance protocols and security classifications to handle genuinely sensitive material. What this new pledge does is redefine “security” to mean “don’t embarrass us.” It gives the government the jurisdiction to decide what counts as legitimate journalism and what counts as a punishable offense. That’s not how a democracy works, that’s how authoritarian regimes operate.

This isn’t a one-off mistake; it’s part of a clear pattern. Since Donald Trump returned to  office, his administration has been locked in a familiar battle with the press. Reporters have been banned from rallies, insulted at press briefings, threatened with lost access and labeled as “enemies” for asking tough questions. 

This new Pentagon policy fits neatly into that same strategy. It is one that seeks to reshape the media into a tool for power instead of a resource to check  on it. 

It’s not  full-blown  fascism,  but it’s  getting  dangerously  close to the same playbook: discredit independent media, elevate loyal outlets and punish those who do not obey until the truth only  comes  from  one  voice. That’s the opposite of everything America claims to stand for.

Most importantly, this isn’t who we as Americans are, or at least, who we’re supposed to be. When the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, they didn’t put the freedom of the press in the First Amendment by accident. They did it because they understood something fundamental: power without scrutiny becomes tyranny.

A government that decides what can and can’t be reported is a government that’s already begun to rot from the inside. Our founders built a country where disagreement was a duty, not a threat. They fought a war to escape a king who punished criticism and silenced his opposition. 

And now, two-and-a-half centuries later, we’re watching our own government adopt the same tactics. They are using the word  “security”    to  justify  secrecy while turning journalism into a permission-based profession.

Even if the Pentagon’s intentions were pure, which is hard to believe, the damage has already been done. When the government sets rules like this, it doesn’t just affect those who refuse to sign; it sends a message to all Americans. Sources become afraid to talk. Editors worry about losing access. And with this current administration, higher-ups fear being sued if anchors criticize the administration. 

Before long, the stories that get told are the ones that are the easiest to tell — the ones that don’t challenge power, don’t dig too deep and don’t risk too much. That’s how the descent of democracy begins. It doesn’t start with one law or one speech, but with a slow narrowing of what people feel safe to say. 

The Pentagon’s pledge isn’t just paperwork, it’s a loyalty test disguised as policy. And the fact that almost every major American newsroom rejected it should   be  seen  as  both  a  warning and a sign of hope. Without the resistance from the media, America would quickly descend into a propaganda machine, just as many other authoritarian regimes already have.

The Pentagon manages nearly a trillion dollars in taxpayer money, oversees global military operations and shapes U.S. foreign policy in ways that most citizens will never see. If journalists lose access to the building, the public loses access to the truth. 

Every American has a stake in whether the government operates in the open, or behind closed doors. Once the state can decide what information is “authorized,” it can determine what reality is. The next time a major story breaks, the public might not find out until it’s leaked in a Telegram chat, or worse, when it’s already too late.

The idea of a free press isn’t a partisan issue; it’s an American issue. You don’t have to be a journalist or left-leaning to see the danger here. 

You just have to believe that the people running the country should never be the ones writing the rules for how they’re covered. Right now, the Pentagon is telling the American public: ‘You’ll know what we tell you, when we tell you,’ and that is propaganda. 

If the administration wants to rebuild confidence in the government, they should remember what our founding fathers told us: a free press does not weaken a nation, but keeps it honest. 

The Pentagon’s pledge is not just an attack on the media, but an attack on the very idea of America: a country built on the promise that truth can and should come, even without permission.

On Oct. 15, Pentagon reporters handed in the press passes and walked out of the Pentagon, protesting the mandatory journalism pledge by Pete Hegseth and others. Photo courtesy of  @nbcnews/Instagram