The nation’s leadership called the new rules “common sense” to help regulate a “very disruptive” press.
Shortly after 4, about 40 to 50 journalists left together after handing in badges.
Trump supports the new rules Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump backed his defense secretary’s new rules.
He has called his new rules “common sense” and said the requirement that journalists sign a document outlining the rules means they acknowledge the new rules, not necessarily agree to them.
No one should think that’s good enough.” The Pentagon Press Association, whose 101 members represent 56 news outlets, has spoken out against the rules.
NEW YORK (AP) — Reporters covering the U.S. military are now farther away from the center of power after dozens of reporters chose to leave the Pentagon on Wednesday instead of accepting restrictions placed on their work. The country’s leaders referred to the new regulations as “common sense” in an effort to control a “very disruptive” press.
Nearly all news organizations opposed new regulations put in place by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would expose reporters to expulsion if they attempted to report on information, classified or not, that Hegseth had not authorized for public release.
At 4 p.m., many of the reporters waited to depart together. M. The Defense Department has set a deadline for leaving the building. Reporters transported chairs, a copying machine, books, and old photographs from abruptly empty offices to the parking lot as the hour drew near, while boxes of documents lined a Pentagon corridor. Around 40 to 50 journalists collectively departed shortly after 4 p.m. after turning in their badges.
Nancy Youssef, an Atlantic reporter who has worked at the Pentagon since 2007, said, “It’s sad, but I’m also really proud of the press corps that we stuck together.”. She brought a map of the Middle East to her vehicle.
The new regulations’ actual effects are unknown, but news outlets promised to continue covering the military thoroughly regardless of their point of view.
President Donald Trump’s supporters, many of whom dislike journalists and applaud his attempts to make their jobs more difficult, are unlikely to be moved by pictures of reporters successfully protesting against obstacles to their work. The New York Times, CBS News, ABC News, the Wall Street Journal, and the Associated Press have all been targets of Trump’s legal battles in the past 12 months.
The new regulations are supported by Trump.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump supported the new regulations proposed by his defense secretary. Trump remarked, “I believe he finds the press to be very disruptive in terms of world peace.”. It is very dishonest of the press. “”.
Hegseth, the former host of Fox News Channel, has been methodically stifling the flow of information even before he announced his new press policy. He has only conducted two official press conferences, prohibited reporters from entering many areas of the expansive Pentagon unaccompanied, and opened inquiries into media leaks.
He has referred to his new regulations as “common sense” and stated that the requirement that journalists sign a document containing the rules indicates that they are aware of them rather than necessarily agreeing with them. That seems like a distinction without a difference to journalists.
In reality, they want to give the journalist information that will become their story. That isn’t journalism,” retired U.S. S. spoke on Hegseth’s former network as an Army general and Fox News analyst.
According to Keane, he made new brigadier generals take a course on the function of the media in a democracy while he was in office to prevent intimidation and to help them understand reporters as a conduit to the American people. “There were moments when I cringed a little bit when stories were told,” he remarked. However, that usually occurs because we did something that wasn’t as good as we ought to have done. “.”.
Signing on to regulations that stated journalists should not ask military officials for information, according to Youssef, was pointless. “To consent to refrain from requesting information is to consent to not being a journalist,” she stated. Our entire objective is to gather information. “.”.
We’ll keep covering US military affairs, but from a wider perspective.
A number of reporters submitted social media posts after presenting their press badges.
“It’s such a small thing, but seeing my picture up on the wall of Pentagon correspondents made me feel really proud,” wrote Heather Mongilio, a reporter for USNINews, a Navy news outlet. “I’ll turn in my badge today. Reporting will go on. “.”.
Regardless of the location of their desks, Mongilio, Youssef, and others emphasized that they will continue to perform their duties. Although they claim that threats from Pentagon leadership have chilled some military personnel, some sources will still communicate with them.
NPR reporter Tom Bowman wrote in an essay about how he had been informed about what was going on by people he knew from the Pentagon and while serving in the military, even if it went against the official statements made by the leadership. Many are aware of the media’s function.
Bowman wrote, “They understood that the American people should be aware of what’s happening.”. It appears that the Pentagon leadership will continue to rely on skillfully crafted short videos, partisan commentator and podcaster interviews, and slick social media posts since reporters are unable to ask questions. Nobody ought to believe that is sufficient. “.”.
The regulations have been criticized by the Pentagon Press Association, which has 101 members representing 56 news organizations. Reporters from a wide range of media outlets, including Fox and the conservative Newsmax, as well as more established ones like the New York Times and the Associated Press, were instructed to quit rather than sign the new standards.
The only conservative network to sign up was One America News Network. Gabrielle Cuccia, a former Pentagon reporter who was fired by OANN earlier this year for writing an online column criticizing Hegseth’s media policies, told the AP in an interview that the organization’s management probably thinks that by demonstrating its support, it will gain more access to Trump administration officials.
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