Hi everyone,
The new press corps entered the Pentagon on Monday, with their first press briefing on Tuesday. Sitting in the Pentagon press briefing room were reporters from outlets that are often derided by a legacy press that gave up their Pentagon press passes over restrictions imposed by the new administration on where the press can roam, what they can access, and prohibitions on leaks and classified materials. On Wednesday, a media row was given access to officials with the Department of War to ask questions about current operations and anything else we wanted to talk about.
While legacy media has seen the changes as a restriction on free press, what it looks like to me is more of a reset, an opportunity for the Pentagon to change the relationship between the press and their agency. Instead of press roaming the halls, stalking people outside their offices, and listening for whispers in the hall, they are cordoned off into their own area—just like in the White House, where journalists do not have free reign to wander the halls.
This was an interesting week to be in the Pentagon as War Sec Pete Hegseth has been accused of war crimes and much has been made about the Sept. 2 sinking of a drug boat in the waters of the Caribbean. There has been an intensive back and forth in the press about who knew what when, about the men who were killed, and the cargo they were carrying.
I got some answers about all of this, the rules of war and legality from the Pentagon's Tim Parlatore, and you can check it out below. With the change in press corps, the Pentagon is back open for press access and we anticipate more briefings coming regularly. Stay tuned for more!
Libby