Mr. Hegseth: Don’t ban the free press from the Pentagon

It does not have to happen

Pete Hegseth genuinely seems to believe that confiscating Pentagon access passes for journalists who don’t sign up for his new rules will stop the flow of news he doesn’t like. Well think again. Journalists, and the news organizations they work for, are professionally and mentally tougher than he can even imagine. So buckle up.

As of Monday afternoon, the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, National Public Radio and yes Newsmax are declining to sign the new rules. The Pentagon Press Association, where I served on the board for many years, late Monday issued a statement asking Hegseth to reconsider his looming ban on reporters. The PPA accurately points out there was no need for this fight.

What Hegseth has failed to understand is the First Amendment means that the Pentagon cannot have the right to stop reporters from doing their jobs: reporting the news. News reporting cannot be stopped by the government prior to publication, especially publication of non classified information. Hegseth says everything reported must now be information approved by the Pentagon or give up your access pass to the building. Someone asked me so what does it mean? Is this all about reporters being inconvenienced by not getting into the Pentagon? Nope and nope. This is about the United States Constitution. The military swears an oath to defend the Constitution and that includes the First Amendment which spells out freedom of the press as a foundation of the nation. The news media are not government stenographers, publishing his press releases and broadcast his workout videos.

I covered the Pentagon since 1989 until I retired in 2022. I have abounding confidence that if the Pentagon sticks with Hegseth’s plan then the news stories and reporting will continue with no pause, Reporters covering the US military talk to Congress, to other government agencies, to the White House and even to other nations. They will also continue to talk to military officials. They will risk their lives by traveling in combat zones. They will give up cherished family time to cover the news.

I don’t want to give any oxygen to Mr. Hegseth’s continuing angry language. But the facts matter.

He said on social media his policy means three essential things;

*Press no longer roams free”. The fact: the press only could walk in non classified areas anyhow. All classified information and workspaces are behind security locked doors.

*”Press must wear a visible badge”. The fact: that has been the case for decades.

*”Credentialed press no longer permitted to solicit criminal acts.” Fact: this is an incredibly serious allegation. Show the world your evidence in cases that have not been prosecuted already. Talking to a source is not soliciting a criminal act.

But what Mr Hegseth is losing if he doesn’t reconsider, is access to people who still everyday report the news to millions of people around the world. Every Secretary of Defense until now has seen the value of talking to reporters even in the hallways of the Pentagon. James Mattis usually did it in his way back from the Pentagon cleaners, starched white shirts slung over his shoulder, Lloyd Austin, notoriously shy would always say hello and asked how things are going, Leon Panetta always had time for a chat as did Secretary Chuck Hagel, a combat veteran of Vietnam. I guarantee they had reporters they didn’t like, stories out there they wish weren’t. But each of them saw the value of a free press in America.