A Fox News contributor blasted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new policy requiring journalists to only report administration-approved talking points, saying the move would “devastate” the Pentagon press corps and “strangle” the free press.
“This is actually quite breathtaking in terms of its implications for the free press. There is no precedent for what they’re doing here,” conservative legal scholar and professor Jonathan Turley told Fox News Special Report host Bret Baier.
Reporters covering the Department of Defense must now sign forms pledging to adhere to new rules, including a prohibition on publishing any information gathered at the Pentagon that hasn’t been expressly approved.
Turley said that he was “bowled over” by the inclusion of CUI, or “controlled unclassified information,” in the new rules, given the “endless possibilities of interpretation” for what counts as CUI.
“What they are basically saying is if you publish anything that’s not in the press release, that’s not the official statement of the Pentagon, you could be held responsible under this policy,” he said. “That is going to create a stranglehold on the free press.”
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told the Daily Beast in a statement, “The guidelines in the memo provided to credentialed resident media at the Pentagon reaffirms the standards that are already in line with every other military base in the country. These are basic, common-sense guidelines to protect sensitive information as well as the protection of national security and the safety of all who work at the Pentagon.”
But even Trump, who has called some anti-MAGA reporting “illegal,” said he didn’t think the Pentagon should decide what reporters can report on.
According to Turley, the policy is a “bridge too far,” infringing on core press protections and “devastating” the journalists who cover the Pentagon.
He and Baier—who was a Pentagon reporter for six years—noted that defense officials have a long tradition of allowing media to work with their representatives to get the story right, and that newsrooms typically work with officials to make sure their stories are not endangering service members or other government personnel.
When the press has published classified information—such as the Pentagon Papers—it has led to some of the most significant reforms in the nation’s history, Turley said.
The new policy is the latest escalation in an ongoing attempt to stifle independent reporting at the Department of Defense, CNN reported.
As soon as Hegseth took over, The New York Times, NBC News, and NPR were kicked out of their dedicated Pentagon workspaces, which were then given to smaller, pro-Trump outlets.
A few weeks later, the Pentagon announced the press briefing room would be closed “when not in use for public briefings,” despite the Pentagon’s top spokesperson Sean Parnell—who is a close friend of Hegseth’s—only holding one press briefing all year, according to CNN.
The latest restrictions prohibit journalists from accessing most of the building without an escort, which will eliminate “the media’s freedom to freely access press officers for the military services who are specifically hired to respond to press queries,” the Pentagon Press Association said in a statement.
Turley said that when it comes to the new policy, “The cost is too great.”
“This is really limitless in terms of the level of control that would be exercised by people given access to the Pentagon,” he said.
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