Defense Department Will Only Allow Access To Journalists Who Promise Not To Obtain ‘Unauthorized Material’

from the propagandists-only,-please dept

Everything’s a purge in this administration. The Defense Department — now absurdly referred to by the administration as the “Department of War” — is headed by a guy no one really seems to respect and who has the unfortunate habit of ignoring OPSEC 101 at every opportunity.

Pete Hegseth is the victim of self-inflicted wounds but, much like Trump himself, continues to claim the damage he’s created is everyone else’s fault. That’s why he’s instituted insane plans meant to limit leaks but that will only encourage them. That’s why he’s embraced this stupid as fuck move to rename the Defense Department the “Department of War.” That’s why he has actively sought to eradicate anything that might indicate the military is willing to welcome the service and sacrifice of people who aren’t white, hetero males.

And that’s why he’s now doing this absurd shit:

The Trump administration unveiled a new crackdown Friday on journalists at the Pentagon, saying it will require them to pledge they won’t gather any information — even unclassified — that hasn’t been expressly authorized for release, and will revoke the press credentials of those who do not obey.

Under the policy, the Pentagon may revoke press passes for anyone it deems a security threat. Possessing confidential or unauthorized information, under the new rules, would be grounds for a journalist’s press pass to be revoked.

Banning journalists for publishing anything not “expressly authorized for release” and forcing them into agreements like this doesn’t do anything for journalism. All it does is turn journalists into government stenographers. While there will certainly be journalists willing to exchange their ideals for access, if this is what the Trump administration really wants, why bother doing any of this? Why not just kick every journalist out and handle everything via press releases?

I mean, Hegseth’s Defense Department is at least halfway there already, having purged most of the real journalists and replaced them with “GO TEAM TRUMP” typists who never had any journalistic ethic to begin with:

In February, Hegseth kicked out several long-standing Pentagon news organizations from their dedicated offices there, including NBC News, the New York Times and NPR, to rotate in new, conservative outlets, including OAN, Newsmax and Breitbart, as well as the left-leaning HuffPost. 

It’s either be a propagandist or be shown the exit. This is the sort of thing that should alarm every American who actually believes in this nation’s ideals. But most of them won’t even know it’s even happening and even fewer will actually care. And those already aligned with Trump and the GOP will cheer it on, even the small minority of MAGA fans who may recognize the actual harm being done to the nation by this regime.

This administration has tapped into something ugly and primal in its voter base, something so devoid of patriotic ideals it makes Trump’s preferred slogan a sickening joke. Not only will none of this actually make America great again, it ensures it will take years to return America to normalcy, much less the greatness this nation, and especially its leaders, should aspire to. Hegseth is just another bully — someone always willing to punch down but just as subservient as his victims when it comes to dealing with the biggest bully of all, Donald Trump.

Filed Under: 1st amendment, defense department, free speech, journalism, leaks, pete hegseth, trump administration