A new policy that restricts the press and media in the Pentagon has come into effect, causing widespread discussion on the future of journalists if said policy persists.
On Sept. 18, 2025, the memorandum, a written report from the government, and its new policies restricting the press were put into effect. It denied journalists access to certain parts of the Pentagon, forcing them to obtain permission from an approved official before publishing any findings from within the building. Those who don’t sign the new contract conforming to this new policy will have their badges revoked.
The Pentagon, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense (also newly referred to as the Department of War), released the memorandum on May 23, 2025. They claim that they value transparency with the public, but they need to append new policies that create harsher press regulations to better protect U.S. service members and provide better safety measures for their residents.
“It’s concerning any time any government agency attempts to restrict freedom of the press,” said Greer Stone, the former mayor and current council member of the City of Palo Alto. “This should raise First Amendment concerns for all of us.”
Stone isn’t the only one with concerns. Many others agree that such a law, if passed, would encroach on people’s freedom of speech.
“The freedom of the press is important, and I am just generally suspicious when people in power try to conceal what they’re doing or make it harder for the public to have access to that information,” said Addison Gaitan, an English and Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) teacher at Carlmont High School.
On the other hand, Rosa Horovitz, a life skills, ethnic studies, and modern world history teacher at Carlmont High School, thinks this new policy isn’t as groundbreaking as it is made out to be.
“It really is just a sort of more overt, less intelligent version of the way things already are with reporting in the Pentagon. As with a lot of Trump administration policies, it’s the bigger, dumber version of the way things have been for a long time,” Horovitz said.
Despite the U.S. Department of Defense’s promise of transparency, there are still concerns about the government now having the ability to control the narrative, and what might happen to any stories that cast them in an unfavorable light under the public view.
“We get into really scary territory when we start only allowing people who agree with us to speak and silencing the voices of dissenters. I think that dissent is important and a key facet of democracy,” Gaitan said.
