After successfully pushing out even Fox News from covering the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has filled his new press corps with sycophants and yes men from the likes of ultraconservative organizations like Turning Point USA.
“We are excited to announce over 60 journalists, representing a broad spectrum of new media outlets and independent journalists, have signed the Pentagon’s media access policy and will be joining the new Pentagon press corps,” United States Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Sean Parnell announced on Wednesday. “Twenty-six journalists across 18 outlets were among the former Pentagon press corps who chose to sign the DOW media access policy.”
“New media outlets and independent journalists have created the formula to circumvent the lies of the mainstream media and get real news directly to the American people,” he continued. “Their reach and impact collectively are far more effective and balanced than the self-righteous media who chose to self-deport from the Pentagon. Americans have largely abandoned digesting their news through the lens of activists who masquerade as journalists in the mainstream media.”
This comes just over a week after Hegseth announced a new “pledge” for journalists covering the Pentagon, requiring them to abstain from receiving any unauthorized material, and seek approval for any agency information “by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.”
Parnell’s post—which conveniently failed to mention where any of those 60 journalists work—drew plenty of protest.
“This post doesn’t name them for some reason, but the ‘broad spectrum of new media outlets’ include: Gateway Pundit, TPUSA, and LindellTV, per their announcements,” CNN’s Natasha Bertrand wrote. Gateway Pundit, which proudly announced its inclusion in the Pentagon press corps on Wednesday, is known for constantly spreading false information, from falsely accusing multiple innocent people of being mass shooters or assassins, to spreading rumors about Hillary Clinton’s health in 2016. It is widely considered a fake news website. Other far-right outlets and grifters expected to be in the press corp include Tim Pool (who was at one point paid by the Russian government), Jack Posobiec of Pizzagate fame, The National Pulse, and Post Millennial.
“Three points: 1) Who’s on this list? Will they ask the hard questions that Americans expect? 2) Will these new journalists actually get briefings from the Hegseth team? None have been held since August. 3) The press corps that left the building is still very much on the job,” wrote former Pentagon press corps member Dan Lamonthe, who left in protest of Hegseth’s pledge ultimatum.
It should alarm every American that the defense secretary is making an effort to fill the press corps with people who will never hold him accountable, as the Trump administration continues to bomb boats and kill fishermen in the Caribbean, while inching closer and closer to conflict with Venezuela.
“Press corps as adjuncts of the administration,” Matthew Gertz of Media Matters wrote.
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