Reaction to New Pentagon Media Access Policy
During a Tuesday appearance on “Special Report,” retired General Jack Keene, a senior strategic analyst, shared his thoughts on the Trump administration’s latest Pentagon media access policy.
Keene expressed concerns about the information being relayed to viewers, remarking, “I don’t feel like the viewers are being told the whole story here.” He believes the intention behind the policy is to control the narrative journalists receive, stating, “they want to spoon-feed information to journalists, and that would be their story. That’s not journalism.” He emphasized that true journalism involves seeking out stories and gathering all pertinent facts.
He recalled that when he was in the military, journalists pursued stories independently, rather than waiting for official word from high-ranking officials. “You’re not going to have someone knocking on the door of a four-star general,” he explained. There were always reporters working hard to uncover military news, which sometimes led to frustration within the military if the press beat them to announcing an issue. “Sometimes we had to get our act together before talking about it,” he noted.
Keene articulated a desire for generals to be more approachable, suggesting they should be trained to see journalists as vital connectors to the public. He said, “Look at the media as a conduit to the American people.” Although he acknowledged that some media reports might annoy him, he generally supports a robust press. “Usually it’s because we did something that wasn’t as good as we should have done,” he added.
The Pentagon, under Army Secretary Pete Hegseth, has rolled out a policy mandating that journalists meet certain criteria to gain access. This initiative has faced backlash from numerous news organizations.
A joint statement from major news outlets, including ABC, CBS, CNN, and NBC, expressed their opposition, stating, “Today, we, along with virtually every other news organization, are refusing to accede to new Department of Defense requirements that will limit the ability of journalists to keep the nation and the world informed about critical national security issues.” They described the policy as unprecedented, labeling it a threat to the foundational protections of journalism.
