News commentary

Pete Hegseth’s latest excuse is much of the same: It’s the media’s fault

Poynter · Tom Jones · last updated

In late March, The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg published an extraordinary story.

Goldberg revealed that Pete Hegseth, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, texted American plans to strike Houthi targets in Yemen to top U.S. intelligence and military officials. But, stunningly, included in that insecure text chain was Goldberg himself.

It was an unimaginable breach of security to text someone outside of security clearance.

And what was Hegseth’s response? To attack the well-respected Goldberg as a journalist, saying he was a “deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again.” (None of which is remotely true.) Hegseth also downplayed what he wrote in the texts, saying they weren’t war plans, although clearly it was proven to be sensitive material when Goldberg and The Atlantic released the transcripts of the texts.

Related Knowledge Center: Democracy and politics

State of Play

News organizations are scrambling to find a coverage approach that adequately informs the American public about the country’s slide from democracy to authoritarian rule.

The White House vs. the press


More informationabout Democracy and politics

Related Knowledge Center: The White House vs. the press

State of Play

Whether it’s the Des Moines Register’s publication of an unfavorable election poll, a routine edit of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, or the Associated Press’s decision in its authoritative stylebook to continue to use “Gulf of Mexico,” Donald Trump and the White House have used executive authority and legal reprisals in an effort to punish and suppress press coverage that runs contrary to the administration’s preferred narratives.

Democracy and politics | Signalgate | The CBS submission | Voiceless America


More informationabout The White House vs. the press

Related Knowledge Center: Digital privacy and data security

State of Play

If you’re online, you’re generating a constant stream of information about yourself — sometimes voluntarily, sometimes unwittingly — that is assembled and used to craft your online experience. And generate wealth for data brokers. Meanwhile, designers and managers of the digital infrastructure on which the world depends are engaged in a never-ending effort to thwart attempts, by both criminal enterprises and state actors, to exploit vulnerabilities in those systems.   

Signalgate | State surveillance


More informationabout Digital privacy and data security