A bit of sunshine brightens week for journalists

Mar 21, 2026

NNA industry alert — March 21, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lynne Lance, lynne@nna.org

The National Newspaper Association this week welcomed good news on Sunshine Week in the form of a court ruling striking down the Defense Department’s new press pass requirements.

On March 20, District Court Judge Paul Friedman struck down portions of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s 2025 policy requiring reporters to sign certain pledges as a condition of receiving press passes. Numerous reporters declined to sign, citing an interference with their news-gathering abilities. The New York Times sued to strike down the policy. NNA and 22 other news organizations joined an amicus brief prepared by Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in support of the journalists.

Friedman noted the unusual nature of the Hegseth policy:

“Over the past several decades, there have been times when PFAC (press pass) holders have published news stories critical of the Department or reported information that Department officials believed had come out too soon or would have preferred had not been made public at all. The publication of such stories has led to scrutiny of the Department and its officials by lawmakers and the public, and it has sometimes spurred beneficial reform. Historically, though, even when Department leaders disliked a journalist’s reporting, they did not consider suspending, revoking, or not renewing the journalist’s press credentials in response to that reporting.” He cited examples from the Pentagon Papers-era struggles between the press and the Nixon administration, where the battles took place in court and allowed reporters to continue their work.

The government claimed the new policy was related to security. It purported to require reporters to agree not to report on “unauthorized disclosures” of information, to restrict their movement around the Pentagon or even to attempt to “improperly obtain” information. In court, it was unable to cite any specific security risk to Pentagon officials and could not explain why credentials were issued to political activist James O’Keefe despite his earlier criminal convictions.

Friedman found that the policy was inconsistent and subjective and could not comply with requirements for First Amendment restrictions. He did not address the restrictions on news-gathering but said the policy was based upon viewpoint discrimination, which is not permitted under long-standing First Amendment rulings by federal courts. His ruling did not stop the Department from reviewing and issuing press passes, but removed only those provisions that were First Amendment violations.

The Defense Department immediately said it would appeal.

NNA Chair Martha Diaz Aszkenazy, publisher of the San Fernando (California) Valley Sun and El Sol Newspapers, said NNA had joined in support of the Times’ journalists because of concern about national incursions upon First Amendment rights.

“As far as I know,” she said, “no NNA member applied for the Pentagon press passes. Our members typically focus upon local news and events. But a cloud hangs over journalists in every state and city when public officials can pick and choose who covers them based upon political biases. We expect our journalists to cover public officials of all stripes fairly and objectively. But inevitably, we will write things that the officials would prefer not to see in print or would rather spin to favor their policies. In the name of a free press, reporters must be allowed to continue to do their work so citizens – our readers— can have the benefit of the information they need to make informed decisions,” she said.

She thanked the New York Times and the Reporters Committee for speaking up on behalf of journalists.

Read the court opinion here.