Hegseth Doubling Down on Media in Pentagon With Odd New Edict

The secretary of the Department of War, Pete Hegseth, is ramping up his personal battle against the media, issuing a bizarre set of restrictions for journalists working out of the Pentagon.Via social media, the head of the Armed Forces on Monday issued a new edict for credentialed members of the press, claiming that the Pentagon will have the “same rules as every U.S. military installation.”“Pentagon access is a privilege, not a right. So, here is @DeptofWar press credentialing FOR DUMMIES,” Mr. Hegseth said in a post on X along with a checklist of new criteria.“Press no longer roams free. Press must wear visible badge. Credentialed press no longer permitted to solicit criminal acts.”It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Hegseth was being serious.“Wait what do you mean ‘no longer permitted to solicit CRIMINAL ACTS’? They were allowed to solicit criminal acts before,” one X user with the handle Paddy Sham said in a comment on the war secretary’s post.The curious post comes amid pushback from a majority of major media outlets that are refusing to agree to a new set of rules and restrictions recently issued by Mr. Hegseth. He has demanded that reporters sign a pledge agreeing to not report on any information that has not been officially authorized by the Pentagon for release to the public or risk having their credentials stripped.The deadline for signing the pledge is set for Tuesday, but most media organizations have come forward to say that they would not agree to his edict.Major news organizations including the Associated Press, Reuters, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and CNN have stated that their journalists will refuse to sign the updated documentation requiring them to comply.On Monday, the Pentagon Press Association publicly urged Mr. Hegseth to reconsider the “unnecessary new affirmations.”“This Wednesday, most Pentagon Press Association members seem likely to hand over their badges rather than acknowledge a policy that gags Pentagon employees and threatens retaliation against reporters who seek out information that has not been pre-approved for release,” reads a statement from the PPA.Many of the media organizations represented by the PPA posted statements of their own on X saying that they would not comply, leading Mr. Hegseth to repost each statement with a goodbye wave emoji.

Hegseth Doubling Down on Media in Pentagon With Odd New Edict

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