Bedevied by leaks to the media during his short term, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth It issued a series of restrictions on the press on Friday night that include prohibiting reporters entering large strips of the Pentagon without a government escort, areas where the press has had access in past administrations, since it covers the activities of the most powerful military in the world.
The recently restricted areas include their office and those of its main assistants and all the different places in the gigantic building where the Army, the Air Force, the Navy, the Marines body and the space force maintain the press offices.
The media will also be prohibited from the main military leadership offices of the Pentagon, including the president of the Joint Chiefs, General Dan Caine, without the approval of Hegseth and a escort of his assistants. The staff of the Joint Chiefs has traditionally maintained a good relationship with the press.
Hegseth, the former personality of Fox News Channel, issued his order through an X -afternoon publication on a Friday afternoon before a festive weekend. He said it was necessary for national security.
“While the department remains committed to transparency, the department is also obliged to protect (classified intelligence information) and confidential information, whose unauthorized dissemination could endanger the lives of US service members,” Hegseth wrote.
The Pentagon Press Association expressed skepticism that the operational concerns were at stake, and linked the movement to previous actions of the Hegseth office that prevent journalists and their coverage.
“There is no way to sweeten it. Today’s memorandum of Secretary Hegesh seems to be a direct attack on the freedom of the press and the law of the United States to know what his army is doing,” he said in a statement on Friday night. “The Pentagon Press Association is extremely concerned about the decision to restrict the movement of accredited journalists within the Pentagon through unseged and unaspermed halls.”
Hegseth also said that journalists must sign a form to protect confidential information and a new badge will be issued that identifies them more clearly as a press. It was not clear if signing the form would be a continuous access condition to the building.
Two months ago, the department was ashamed by a leak For the New York Times, that billionaire Elon Musk had to obtain an informative session on the US army plans. UU. In case a war with China broke out. That informative session never took place, in the orders of President Donald Trump, and Hegseth suspended two Pentagon officials as part of an investigation into how those news came out.
The pentagon I was also ashamed When the Atlantic Chief Editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, was unadverted in a group chat in the application of signal messages where Hegseth discussed the plans for the next military attacks in Yemen. Trump’s former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was responsible for Goldberg to be included and was transferred to another job.
The administration has taken several aggressive actions towards the press since Trump took over, including FCC investigations in ABC, CBS and NBC News. Restrictions imposed Associated Press’s access to certain White House events earlier this year led to a judicial battle that is ongoing.
The White House has also increased access for conservative media that are friendly to the president. However, a study published earlier this month found that Trump had Most frequent exchanges with reporters During his first 100 days in the position that any of his six predecessors.
Hegseth, however, has been much less available. You still have to talk to the press in the Pentagon Information Room. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, has held only information about the Pentagon press since January 20. The pentagon has taken other measures to hinder it Carrying the office space Of eight media, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and NBC.
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David Bauder writes about the AP media. Follow it in http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.
