Reporting what the government would rather not have reported is not just an essential function but, one could argue, duty of a free press in a representative system.
The Pentagon, the publicly-funded armed services tasked with defending the Constitution wherein said principle is outlined in bold, disagrees.
Via The Hill (emphasis added):
“Starting on Wednesday, all but one media outlet that regularly covers the Department of Defense is set to lose access to the Pentagon.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanded that reporters agree by 5 p.m. Tuesday to a new policy, under which they would need to pledge to not obtain or use any unauthorized material, even if the information is unclassified — or hand over their press badges in the next 24 hours. Media outlets say this is a violation of their First Amendment rights, and nearly every news outlet has refused to sign.
The rejections mean that for the first time since the Eisenhower administration, no major U.S. television network or publication will have a permanent presence in the Pentagon…
Every major television network, wire, publication and radio outlet has gone on the record in saying their reporters have refused to sign the policy, including ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, CNN, The Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Financial Times, Politico, and NPR, among others. The Hill and its sister network NewsNation also have declined to sign…
Several right-leaning news organizations have balked at the policy, including Fox News, Washington Times and Newsmax, the latter of which has said it believes the requirements “are unnecessary and onerous.””