What’s REALLY Going On With Those Pentagon Press Protests?
Oh no, the partisan press might have to actually work to get their scoops now!
The Partisan Press has staged a press event of their own. They are Big Mad about changes to the Pentagon rules, and have made a public spectacle and have walked out of the Pentagon en masse. What’s the big deal?
Back in September, Pete Hegseth made it clear that the Pentagon would no longer be the cozy little place were journalists and dissenting voices in the military could collaborate to cook up counter-narratives that undermine the administration on the sly.
It’s unclear where the ‘last straw’ moment came, exactly, but there’s a good chance that the in-real-time leaks undermining the action during Iran’s 12-day war might have played a role in reviewing security issues, and who has easy access to the halls in which the highest-level security priorities and, yes, difficult military decisions are discussed.
Human nature being what it is, it’s tempting for a disgruntled muckity-muck whose brilliant idea gets passed over for ‘that other clown’s suggestion’ to find some way to undermine said clown (or at least his idea) in the public mind to secure his own little fiefdom in the military complex and tear down his rival.
Is it any wonder, then, that reporters would want to linger around the Pentagon looking for any juicy scoop they could pick up about how general x and his (compromised interests, short sightedness, backward-looking blah-blah-blah) are a threat to national security. All of these allegations are shared, ‘on background’, of course.
Last month, Hegseth made the announcement that things were going to change.
This is how the AP described the new requirements:
The Pentagon says it will require credentialed journalists at the military headquarters to sign a pledge to refrain from reporting information that has not been authorized for release — including unclassified information.
Journalists who don’t abide by the policy risk losing credentials that provide access to the Pentagon, under a 17-page memo distributed Friday that steps up media restrictions imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump.
“Information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified,” the directive states. The signature form includes an array of security requirements for credentialed media at the Pentagon.
Hegseth described the changes a little differently, boiling it down to three key points.
This week, the press was expected to give their reply. Most of them rejected the terms as they were offered. Having not agreed to the terms of accessing a building which holds many of the world’s most carefully-guarded secrets, they had their access badges revoked.
They made sure that they themselves became the story, in their negative framing of a story about the Trump administration.
Fake news media reporters WALK OUT of the Pentagon, after refusing to sign new press rule agreements.
— American AF 🇺🇸 (@iAnonPatriot) October 16, 2025
It takes less than a minute for Pete to explain why none of the outrage is real.
🚨 BREAKING: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth just CRACKED DOWN on leaks and fake news reporters roaming the Pentagon whenever they want.
"The Pentagon press corps can SQUEAL all they want! We're taking these things seriously."
"We're not allowing everybody to roam around the… pic.twitter.com/QS1NJDklms
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 5, 2025
You can be in the press area, or the briefing room. But if you want to move around the building, you don’t just get to roam around wherever you like. You need a badge and an escort just like you would at, say, the White House. If your personal integrity can’t abide by these terms? That’s fine. Go work sources in your own way and on your own time, bud don’t expect to wander the Pentagon as you do so.
And if the Presstitutes don’t like the fact that their favorite disgruntled leakers can’t run to them with all the latest juicy gossip, they’ll just have to learn to do journalism the old-fashioned way, with old-school gumshoe reporting, digging through files, submitting FOIA requests, and cultivating reliable sources.
Of course, the real issue is the favor-trading benefits of being the unofficial news stenographer for some disgruntled general or advisor evaporate when you can’t just roam the halls unimpeded.
With John Bolten AND Comey both facing indictments for unlawful use of classified materials, even the Presstitutes should see the writing on the wall that their scoops are going to get a whole lot harder to come by… whatever the policy might look like.