A retired general trashed Pete Hegseth’s attempts to restrict Pentagon press access for journalists as an attempt to “spoon-feed information” to reporters in a brazen attempt to control a story.
Appearing on Fox News’ Special Report on Tuesday, retired General Jack Keane, the station’s senior strategic analyst, and host Bret Baier were united in their condemnation of the Pentagon’s harsh new restrictions.
The restrictions, being promoted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, could see press credentials revoked for reporters attempting to glean information from officials.
Networks, including Fox News, ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN, issued a joint statement condemning the move. They claim the demand is “without precedent” and “would restrict journalists’ ability to keep the nation and the world informed of important national security issues.”
Discussing the issue with Keane, Baier questioned Hegseth’s justifications and said journalists assigned to the Pentagon Press Corps are well aware of the risks of leaking classified information and the investigations that accompany it.
“At the White House, I never walked into the Oval Office or the Situation Room,” he said. “These are stipulations that essentially are changing the dynamic about how to get dynamic about how to get information and how they disseminate information.”
Keane, who also served as Vice Chief of Staff for the U.S. Army, responded, “It doesn’t seem like the whole story is being told to our viewers here.
“What they’re really doing, they want to spoon-feed information to the journalists, and that will be their story. That’s not journalism. Journalism is going out and finding the story, and getting all the facts to support it. And that no one’s gonna walk in and bang on the door of a four-star general or senior civilian policy leader in the Pentagon.
He added, “I never had that. But I did have journalists chasing a story of something that was going on in the Army, and those things were legitimate. And if anything, what would frustrate us is the times we didn’t beat you to it. And we—something bad is happening, and we’re getting our act together, to do it. And sometimes, you know, well, let’s wait a couple of days before we talk about that, and you guys are on it.
“And that’s journalism.”
Keane said he had “never seen” anything like the level of press restriction being pushed by the current administration, which he said would also hamper generals’ abilities to answer questions and deal with the media in the long term.
“When I was a four-star general, I insisted that all our new brigadier generals get a class in a few days on what the role of the media is in an American democracy. I wanted them to practice and get interviews and how to deal with the realities of this, because they have they have all these incredible war-fighting skill sets, but dealing with the media isn’t one of them.”
Educating generals on how to engage with the media correctly is “very important to me,” he added, and said it was vital that military personnel “don’t see the media as something to be intimidated by.
“Were there times when stories were done that made me flinch a little bit? Yeah. But that’s usually because we had done something that wasn’t as good as we should have done it.”
Under the new rules, circulated last month, reporters are required to get approval from DoD staff before publishing any stories about the Pentagon, even if they contain unclassified information or sources. Failure to do so could result in reporters having their press credentials revoked.
Around 30 major news organizations have so far refused to sign the updated access policy for journalists, including The New York Times, Newsmax, The Washington Post, and ABC.
To date, pro-Trump mouthpiece One America News is the only organization that has signed the pledge.
In a statement on Monday, Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said, “The policy does not ask for them to agree, just to acknowledge that they understand what our policy is. This has caused reporters to have a full-blown meltdown, crying victim online. We stand by our policy because it’s what’s best for our troops and the national security of this country.”
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