The Pentagon Press Corps Is Gone
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s demand that members of the Pentagon press corps sign on to restrictive reporting guidelines has prompted a mass exodus. Nearly all the journalists who had desks in the Pentagon pressroom have declined to sign, and left the building in a joint protest on Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s like college move-out day,” a reporter from an independent outlet that covers the military told CJR. Some reporters “have been sitting there for twenty years. It’s pretty depressing.”
Griff Witte, a managing editor at The Atlantic, vowed that the magazine’s correspondents will “continue to report in every way they can to try to explain to the American people how their taxpayer dollars are being spent and what’s being done with American military might.”
“I think the Pentagon knows where we stand,” said Witte, whose employer declined to sign the new policy. “You’ve seen media organizations of every character, and every single one of them down the line, nearly, have spoken very loudly, very clearly, and said these restrictions are not acceptable. I think that sends a very clear message about just how seriously we take our First Amendment rights and how seriously we take our responsibility to report accurately and truthfully.”
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