❓WHAT HAPPENED: The New York Times filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of War on Thursday, seeking to overturn several provisions of the Pentagon’s updated media policy that resulted in the revocation of a number of corporate news outlets’ media credentials.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The New York Times, The National Pulse and its Editor-in-Chief Raheem Kassam, the Department of War, and other media organizations.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The lawsuit was filed on Thursday, December 4, 2025.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Among that group are… Raheem Kassam, editor-in-chief of the National Pulse, who described his publication as ‘basically an industry mag/site for MAGA world.'” — The New York Times lawsuit
🎯IMPACT: Ultimately, The New York Times is asking a federal court to order the reinstatement of its credentials and membership in the Pentagon press corps.
The New York Times filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of War on Thursday, seeking to overturn several provisions of the Pentagon‘s updated media policy that resulted in the revocation of a number of corporate news outlets’ media credentials. In the filing, The New York Times unwittingly acknowledges the newspaper’s leadership is envious of The National Pulse and other independent news organizations that were, for the first time, credentialed as members of the Pentagon press corps.
“While Plaintiffs and many other journalists and news organizations no longer possess PFACs because they refused to accede to a Policy that would restrict independent reporting, the Department has welcomed what it calls the ‘next generation of the Pentagon press corps, ‘” The New York Times‘s filing states, continuing: “Among that group are… Raheem Kassam, editor in chief of the National Pulse, who described his publication as ‘basically an industry mag/site for MAGA world.'”
The newspaper further alleges that the Pentagon is engaging in First Amendment bias by credentialing independent media outlets instead of itself and other corporate news companies. “In welcoming what she called the ‘official new members of the Pentagon Press Corps,’ Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson (‘Wilson’) specifically focused on the Department’s preference for their First Amendment activities,” the lawsuit claims, arguing: “She criticized journalists and news organizations, like Plaintiffs, who had previously held PFACs, calling them ‘propagandists’ who ‘stopped telling the truth,’ and she praised those the Department had selected to cover the Pentagon, asserting that they ‘actually reach Americans, ask real questions, and don’t pursue a biased agenda.'”
Ultimately, The New York Times is asking a federal court to order the reinstatement of its credentials and membership in the Pentagon press corps. In late September, the Pentagon undertook a major shake-up of its press corps aimed at cracking down on leaks of classified information and the malicious publication of national security secrets. This included issuing a renewed Pentagon media policy designed to prevent media presence in sensitive national security areas and limit access to Pentagon officials without approval from the Department of War.
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