The US military has issued new media restrictions demanding that journalists pledge not to gather any information – including unclassified documents – that has not been authorized for release or else risk revocation of their press passes.
In a memo issued Thursday, the Pentagon stated that “it remains committed to transparency to promote accountability and public trust”. However, using an abbreviation for the recently rebranded Department of War headed by the Trump administration’s Pete Hegseth, the memo added: “DoW information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.”
It went on to say: “Only authorized persons who have received favorable determinations of eligibility for access, signed approved non-disclosure agreements, and have a need-to-know may be granted access to [classified national security information].”
Journalists reporting from the Pentagon are now required to sign a pledge agreeing to restrict their movements within the building and not to access any unauthorized materials. If they refuse to sign the pledge, their Pentagon press passes will be revoked.
In a post on X, Hegseth said Friday: “The ‘press’ does not run the Pentagon – the people do. The press is no longer allowed to roam the halls of a secure facility. Wear a badge and follow the rules – or go home.”
This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.
We are past the danger, democracy is DONE.
A grueling mess awaits us.
For those who don’t recognize the reference: This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.
Let’s not jump to any conclusions. Maybe they’re just cutting red tape, and plan to keep sending sensitive information to journalists via signal.
Spinning the media is how “democracy” has been working since day 1. It’s quite simple: people only vote parties they know the existence of and the media only talk about a few of them.