Newsmax Joins The New York Times in Rejecting Pentagon’s Prior Restraint

The Department of Defense's Press Room at The Pentagon

​Et tu, Newsmax? 

We’ve held off writing about the Department of Defense’s restrictive new rules for Pentagon-beat reporters, waiting to see the results of intensive negotiations between the Department and journalists.

Now we know the results of those negotiations – by Monday afternoon, CNN, The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and NPR said adios to the E-Ring. Even Newsmax – not known as a bastion of mainstream media critics of President Trump – rejected the First Amendment-killing terms of the Pentagon’s new policy for beat reporters.
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• The original policy issued Sept. 18 would have required journalists to sign a pledge acknowledging that they had to secure the Pentagon’s permission before publishing any information, including unclassified reports.

 

• A new version issued on Oct. 6 clarified that journalists do not, in fact, have to submit their writings for Pentagon approval. But it did warn journalists against “solicitation” – a word normally used by police when arresting johns for prostitution.

 

• The policy read: “Solicitation may include direct communications with specific (Defense) personnel or general appeals, such as public advertisements or calls for tips encouraging (Defense) personnel or general appeals, such as public advertisements or calls for tips encouraging (Defense) employees to share non-public (Defense) information.”

This language essentially forbids journalists from asking what, from an official standpoint, are “wrong questions.” Angela Fu of Poynter reported:

“In essence, the new memo shifts from attacking journalists’ ability to publish the news to attacking their ability to gather it, experts say. From a press freedom standpoint, the dangers of the revised version are ‘clearly no better’ than the ones in the initial version, said PEN America journalism and disinformation director Tim Richardson.”

Worse, restricting unclassified and politically sensitive information amounts to… oh, what is that phrase? Oh yes, “prior restraint” – the cardinal crime against the First Amendment.
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Now a wide spectrum of journalistic outfits will be turning in their credentials and reporting from outside the building. In response, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted a goodbye emoji:

​We applaud these news organizations, left, right, and center, for standing up to a demand to only publish approved news. We further predict this will turn out not to be a bright move for Secretary Hegseth. These journalists will no longer be seen walking the halls and checking in with the Pentagon’s press offices to get the official scoop. Instead, they will work their stories with smartphones, using encrypted messaging apps to cultivate insiders willing to dish out stories the Pentagon would probably prefer to keep under wraps.
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We cannot think of a better way to encourage the kind of bad press that leads to trouble. We’ll see who gets the final bye-bye.

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