Major media outlets, including Hegseth’s former employer Fox News, decline to sign new Pentagon reporting rules; Politico, October 14, 2025

CHEYANNE M. DANIELS , Politico; Major media outlets, including Hegseth’s former employer Fox News, decline to sign new Pentagon reporting rules

"Fox News, which previously employed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, joined most major news organizations on Tuesday in refusing to agree to new rules around reporting at the Pentagon.

The company signed a joint statement with ABC News, CBS News, CNN and NBC News saying the new requirements “would restrict journalists’ ability to keep the nation and the world informed of important national security issues.”

CNN suspends Chris Cuomo ‘indefinitely’ after documents detail help he gave his brother; The Washington Post, November 30, 2021

Sarah Ellison

 and 

Jeremy Barr

 

, The Washington Post;  CNN suspends Chris Cuomo ‘indefinitely’ after documents detail help he gave his brother

"News organizations typically try to maintain clear boundaries between journalists and newsmakers, in an effort to maintain their independence. It’s considered a breach of ethics for a journalist — including those who engage primarily in giving their opinions — to support a source or public official, whether financially or in an advisory role."

White House Waivers May Have Violated Ethics Rules; New York Times, June 1, 2017

Steve Eder and Eric Lipton, New York Times; White House Waivers May Have Violated Ethics Rules

"The Trump administration may have skirted federal ethics rules by retroactively granting a blanket exemption that allows Stephen K. Bannon, the senior White House strategist, to communicate with editors at Breitbart News, where he was recently an executive.

The exemption, made public late Wednesday along with more than a dozen other ethics waivers issued by the White House, allows all White House aides to communicate with news organizations, even if they involve a “former employer or former client.”"