The Founders envisioned a strong press as a foundational part of our burgeoning democracy. A strong press makes it easier for the public to stay informed of what their representatives are doing and to hold their government accountable if needed. A weak press gets you No War in Ba Sing Se scenarios where the Venn diagram of news sources and propaganda centers is a circle. Even if the NYT isn’t perfectly representative of American press coverage and interests, their legal push to get back in the Pentagon could have far-reaching consequences for the nation’s news sources. Reuters has coverage:
The New York Times sued the U.S. Department of Defense and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Thursday in an effort to force the Pentagon to abandon its restrictive new press policy, the latest attempt by a U.S. news organization to reclaim access to government spaces.
The press policy, enacted last month, requires journalists to acknowledge that they could be branded security risks and have their Pentagon press badges revoked if they ask department employees to disclose classified and some types of unclassified information.
Why is the pressure on the journalists to not ask questions that could involve sensitive information and not on the Department employees to keep their damned mouths shut? It is squarely within the job description for journalists to ask tough questions that get at the spirit of what the public needs to know, not lob softballs about how bad the administration’s political enemies are. If the government is hiring people who can’t be trusted to have tight lips when it comes to classified information, that means they’ve done a very bad job of vetting their hires. Scapegoating the reporters as safety risks when it’s actually your own personnel isn’t a good look, Gov.
As important as it is for big press figures like the Times to push for access to information, they could also just… wait. Especially when it comes to Hegseth. My pet theory is that his push for the name change to the Department of War was that he knows how bad he is at defending anything — including secrets. It is only a matter of time before the Fox and Friends talking head that failed upward leaks a private Signal chat or drops more proof of war crimes. You’d think the story alleging he issued a double-tap order on men clinging to life and posing no threat would make him slow down with the public disclosures but no, dude is still releasing “Drug Bust” snuff films:
The good news is that the law is on their side. Even with the “security risk” language, it is hard to look at the press rule as anything other than an attempt at chilling speech that doesn’t conform with government doxa. The bad news is that if this case makes it all the way to the Supreme Court, it is loaded with judges who are willing to bend the law to their desired outcomes if it benefits the Trump administration.
New York Times Sues Pentagon Over Press Access [Reuters]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
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