Pentagon Press Demands 'Free Press' After Years Of Uncritical Silence
When the Pentagon routinely restricts access, censors information, or (allegedly) misleads the public, the PPA's outrage meter generally remains in the 'mildly concerned' zone. But now, with Hegseth's 'moves to restrict and diminish the role of reporters' (as reported by The Hill), suddenly the sacrosanct principles of journalism are under threat. It appears transparency is only a crisis when a
new face disrupts the established, often uncritical, relationship between the military-industrial complex and its embedded media. Perhaps if the mainstream press had consistently pushed back against the Pentagon's long history of narrative control—from the alleged WMDs in Iraq to the sanitized coverage of endless wars—their current cries for 'free press' might carry more weight. This 'criticism'
highlights how comfortable some media outlets get within the system, only to protest when their individual access, not necessarily the public's right to know, is threatened.