Pete Hegseth’s press crackdown is backfiring

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has managed to ignite cross ideological media solidarity with his unprecedented attempt to silence journalists In the present day over resident Pentagon press members who failed to sign Hegseth s new guidelines which restricts reporters to only publish information preauthorized by Pentagon officials are required to turn in their passes and vacate the premises And in a remarkable act of repudiation the U S press corps stands virtually united in defiance of the former Fox Friends Weekend co-host even his former employer Fox News Well we re all standing in solidarity Fox News host Bret Baier described his audience after the passing of Tuesday s deadline to sign the -page approach adding almost all of us In what CNN s Brian Stelter announced as an impressive show of solidarity nearly every major U S news outlet including conservative companies like Fox News Newsmax and the Washington Examiner refused to sign the Pentagon s new press access initiative arguing it undermines the First Amendment The Associated Press described the act of defiance from Fox News as a important step Only the right-wing One America News agreed to the new reporting stipulations from Hegseth with one of the channel s hosts former Florida GOP Rep Matt Gaetz saying the pro-Trump outlet is happy to follow these reasonable conditions Hegseth s changes have upended eight decades of norms and practices between the military and journalists and buck over two centuries of American freedom of the press Hegseth s changes have upended eight decades of norms and practices between the military and journalists and buck over two centuries of American freedom of the press After majority journalists refused to follow the initial guidelines circulated in September which warned that reporters may lose their press credentials for soliciting even unclassified information from federal employees the Pentagon issued a revised version this month This latest version has escalated the threats more around the act of reporting itself one expert described Poynter Rather than this overt censoring of journalists which was how the initial version appeared it has morphed into this effort to intimidate both journalists and regime employees as well From the day he took charge of the Pentagon in February Hegseth launched a war on the press corps in an effort to minimize embarrassing leaks and marginalize critics Defense Department agents instantly restricted reporter movements closing off particular hallways in the Pentagon to reporters and booting long-credentialed media outlets from assigned workspaces Related Pete Hegseth wants women in the kitchen but his wife as his top adviser But by suppressing ordinary access Hegseth has pushed competing national news outlets to lock arms against him The program is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections reads a joint announcement issued by Fox News MSNBC ABC News CBS News CNN and NBC News We will continue to cover the U S military as each of our organizations has done for countless decades upholding the principles of a free and independent press The Washington Post the New York Times Reuters the Associated Press and the Guardian have followed suit by refusing to sign The proposed restrictions undercut First Amendment protections by placing unnecessary constraints on gathering and publishing information Matt Murray the Post s executive editor reported in a declaration posted on X The residents has a right to know how the regime and military are operating wrote New York Times Washington bureau chief Richard Stevenson NPR s Tom Bowman who has covered the Pentagon for years publicly surrendered his own credentials in protest of the unprecedented procedures rather than abide by the restrictions The Pentagon s own spokespeople rarely brief the press anyway Bowman noted in an op-ed Now we re barely getting any information at all from the Pentagon In the months that the Trump administration has been in office Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has given just two briefings And there have been virtually no background briefings which were common in the past whenever there has been military action anywhere in the world as there has been with the latest bombings of Iran s nuclear facilities and of boats off the coast of Venezuela alleged to be carrying illicit drugs In previous administrations Defense Department officers including the acerbic Rumsfeld would hold regular press briefings often twice a week They knew the American people deserved to know what was going on Want more sharp takes on politics Sign up for our free newsletter Standing Room Only written by Amanda Marcotte now also a weekly show on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts The Pentagon Press Association and the National Press Club have issued strong masses statements condemning Hegseth s strategy as unconstitutional What they re really doing they want to spoon-feed information to the journalists and that will be their story Retired General and former Vice Chief of Staff for the U S Army Jack Keane reported Fox News on Tuesday That s not journalism When the Atlantic the Post and the Times communicated their opposition Hegseth replied with an emoji of a hand waving goodbye He also reposted a cartoon that depicted the Atlantic which became embroiled in a dispute with Pentagon and White House personnel earlier this year after editor Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal group chat as a crying baby Hegseth has defended his draconian clampdown by arguing that Pentagon access is a privilege not a right He posted a list on X of what he called press credentialing FOR DUMMIES Press no longer roams free Press must wear visible badge Credentialed press no longer permitted to solicit criminal acts But as veteran Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr pointed out the press hasn t been allowed full access to the Pentagon all year We knew not to you don t walk into the tank and the classified areas are off-limits Fox s Baier made clear on Tuesday We obviously were constantly trying to get the story from different elements And there was a freedom but everybody had badges with them At the White House I never walked into the Oval Office or the Situation Room We need your help to stay independent Subscribe in contemporary times to aid Sophia Tesfaye s journalism Hegseth has long positioned himself as an ideological warrior against what he calls woke decay Senior executives at the Pentagon have actively monitored staffers pressing for proof that every member of the U S armed forces truly watched or read Hegseth s Sept address to top generals according to Zeteo While the Pentagon was once a global leader on weather change mitigation Hegseth not long ago declared there would be no more setting change worship in the military Dismissing concerns as setting change crap Hegseth banned Pentagon agencies from spending money on state planning ordered leaders to remove all references to context change and related subjects from mission statements and requested billion in cuts to wasteful environment spending from the department s budget But effectively giving the Pentagon editorial control over what journalists can account appears to be a bridge too far This is not a negotiation over access It s a foundational attack on journalism itself The fact that even Trump-friendly outlets have balked at Hegseth s demand should send the message to a wider audience that something deeply troubling is afoot The move is already backfiring Rather than marginalizing the press Hegseth has amplified its critical role in residents debate Even as he restricts the media his ultimatum and the population showdown have increased coverage of the Pentagon s policies In effect Pete Hegseth has handed the press the mic Only now journalists hungry for scoops will rely even more on off the record sources clandestine communications and external whistleblowers The procedures may discourage selected but it doesn t extinguish the incentive to find cracks in the Pentagon s wall Read more about this topic Donald Trump s new American Midnight is upon us Podcast bros criticize Trump and sports bros step in Pope Leo takes aim at MAGA s false gospel The post Pete Hegseth s press crackdown is backfiring appeared first on Salon com