Talk about waiting for the next shoe to drop, you will never find a set of facts better suited to that aphorism than what we’re going to discuss now: the Secretary of War demanding that news outlets all sign a pledge to only release news that the Department of War approves of. In other words, forget about being journalists and speaking truth to power, become stenographers instead. As Mark Twain opined, “News is something that somebody doesn’t want published, the rest is public relations.” And public relations is EXACTLY what Hegseth wants and expects from the press in this country, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and First Amendment in one fell swoop.
We are sitting here with bated breath wondering what Fox News will do because that will tell the story indeed. I think Fox will tell Hegseth to pound sound.
Here’s the back story: Hegseth made a big show of dismissiing major news outlets who wouldn’t play ball with his plans. Among those were the Washington Post, New York Times, the Atlantic, Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, and NPR. Hegseth sent bye bye emojis to these outlets, basically leaving the likes of Breitbart and OAN to report “news” we presume. A media coup d’etat in simple words.
This is a travesty. But then something interesting happened. Even Newsweek said it would not abide by Hegseth’s edict. That kicks the ball over to Hegseth’s old training ground, Fox News, and I think Fox News will tell Hegseth to pound sand, as stated. The reason I believe that is because Fox plays both sides of the street. They participate in ordinary news gathering and polling, things that large media outlets do. It’s their editorial department that goes way beyond the pale, but their actual straight news operation gets the facts straight — and then the likes of Hannity, Watters, et al. do what they do with those facts. It’s a system that has worked well for Fox for over a quarter of a century and now Hegseth wants to blow up the free press as we know it.
In May, Hegseth banned journalists from most hallways of the Pentagon without an official escort. The decision was considered extreme, as reporters had had access throughout much of the building for decades without being monitored. Secure or restricted spaces have always been off-limits to the press without official permission.
Now with the new Pentagon press policy, journalists are technically not barred from investigating, reporting or publishing stories on the U.S. military using information deemed sensitive or unclassified, but they could be deemed “a security or safety risk” should they even ask DOD personnel for such information, according to a draft of the rules.
The Pentagon describes solicitation as including calls for tips, encouraging military personnel to share non-public information, as many reporters do via their publications or personal social media platforms, as routine Defense Department news briefings are nonexistent.
The Pentagon Press Association last week said Hegseth and other officials have been “systematically limiting access to information about the U.S. military” since the start of the year.
Even several right-leaning news organizations have balked at the policy, including the Washington Times and Newsmax, the latter of which has said it believes the requirements “are unnecessary and onerous,” and that its reporters won’t sign.
Beat reporters now have until Tuesday to sign the new rules or give up their press passes by Wednesday. Editors and journalists have said they will continue to cover the U.S. military even without press credentials.
It’s not to Fox’s advantage to get on board with this oppressive move on Hegseth’s part. This is something that will get walked back, mark my words, like Hegseth’s presser the other day bragging about the new Qatari air base in Idaho — to which J.D. Vance got on the air Monday, claiming that it was a fake news story.
Hegseth is an idiot and a fool and he doesn’t know where the lines are drawn. We have seen that with:
- SignalGate;
- SignalGate II;
- Qatari Airbase;
- The ludicrous dismantling of the free press in this country.
I don’t see this flying. I see it being walked back just like the Qatari Air Base got walked back. And frankly? I wouldn’t be surprised if Hegseth is out of a job at some point in the not too distant future. Hegseth is a creator of scandals and Vance is probably going to get tired of attempting to sane wash them at some point.
But let’s see what Fox News does. Let’s focus on that with laser attention because that will be revealing. Hegseth has always been deemed to be the worst of Trump’s nominees and it has been long predicted that if/when some cabinet figure goes, it will be Hegseth. I believe that.
Listening to a drunk is no way to protect anything…including a driver’s license.