The Trump Administration has recently made transformative changes at the Pentagon. Transformative, in that many of America’s journalists have quite literally left the building.
Axios News reports that in September, the Department of War proposed new restrictions limiting journalists’ access to certain areas and requiring journalists to have DoW escorts. It also stated that if journalists ask for classified information — business as usual for many outlets — they could have their press credentials revoked. On Oct. 15, the deadline for outlets to accept the restrictions, both liberal legacy media like the New York Times and CNN and conservative outlets like Fox News and Newsmax decided they’d rather leave than comply.
To justify the restrictions, Hegseth and the Pentagon have pulled the classic Anything for National Security™ card, while the many news outlets that rejected the rules are fervently reciting the First Amendment like it’s a prayer to ward off demons:
“Congress shall make no law.. prohibiting the freedom of speech, or of the press…”
As journalists ourselves, the Mentor Editorial Board has decided to weigh in on this war of words. It is the Department of War’s responsibility to avoid internal leaks and maintain national security within the Pentagon, not journalists’. And while security is important, it is often used as a pretext for abuses of power. To avoid them, American taxpayers must know what is going on in the American military. And to know most accurately what’s going on in the military, we need as many journalists as possible in the Pentagon.
We acknowledge that airtight national security is a top priority, especially since our government is involved in international intelligence gathering and military operations, such as the war in Ukraine or the campaign against Venezuelan narcoterrorism. And we know that there are some cases where sharing certain information can truly compromise national security.
However, America also has a long history of using national security to justify ruthless repression like Japanese internment, massive privacy violations like the PATRIOT Act, and outright censorship like the Vietnam War cover-up, exposed in the 1971 Pentagon Papers.
Therefore, balancing freedom and national security requires discretion and delicate balance, and we must tread carefully. Because the Pentagon and Department of War hold the lives of millions of people in their hands. They control nuclear weapons, aircraft carriers and a massive global surveillance apparatus. Recently, they’ve also been working with advanced technology like AI systems and unmanned aerial vehicles. One way to maintain that balance is to honor the American people’s right to know what is happening in our military — an entity which, according to USAFacts, is funded by $874 billion in American taxpayer dollars.
The line between freedom and security is undeniably a blurry one, especially in these difficult times. Still, the government and military have deliberately hidden information from the American public before. With these new restrictions on the press, it will be harder to know if they try to do it again.
