Federal judge strikes down Pentagon press credential restrictions: Howard Kurtz

I don’t hear any cheering from outside.

A federal judge has struck down the Pentagon’s draconian restrictions on what journalists can cover, but most Americans don’t care.

The policy was overturned, leading to the evacuation of major news organizations, from the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal to ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox News. A great victory for freedom of expression.

But the media’s credibility is at an all-time low due to years of bias, gaffes, and stupidity. That’s why no banners are waved in the streets or high-fives are given digitally, except for those who are engaged in business.

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Compare that to the tsunami of backlash to ABC’s cancellation of “The Bachelorette” due to its star’s violent imagery.

Of course, many people may not know about the judge’s decision, given that it has been difficult for civilians to follow the torrent of lawsuits involving President Donald Trump. This is a challenge even for those of us who do this for a living.

But that’s why ordinary people should care.

If this administration or a future Democratic administration can routinely revoke the credentials of defense reporters, then the official version of how great things are going will dominate the news.

That’s why they need to care, especially now.

We are in the middle of war with Iran.

In the lawsuit filed by the New York Times in Washington, Judge Paul Friedman said: “The drafters of the First Amendment believed that the security of the nation requires a free press and an informed people, and that this security was jeopardized by government suppression of political speech.” He said it has been like this for 250 years.

A Pentagon spokesman said the department had appealed.

What news outlet, regardless of political affiliation, could agree not to request information not officially approved for publication by the War Department?

Yes, there’s MyPillow’s Mike Lindell, who blew up his business to enthusiastically support Trump. He regularly promotes conspiracy theories about how the 2020 election was stolen. LindellTV is the Pentagon’s authorized media outlet.

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So is former Congressman Matt Gaetz, whose bid for attorney general failed amid accusations that he paid an underage girl for sex. He currently hosts a show on One America News.

So does far-right activist and Trump confidant Laura Loomer, who said the 2022 mass shooting in Buffalo was a hoax by Democrats; suggested that the deep state was using weather manipulation to create blizzards to benefit Nikki Haley ahead of the 2024 Iowa caucus; and during that campaign, “Joe Biden is dying.”

So is James O’Keefe, founder of the conservative group Project Veritas, which uses undercover video to capture biased behavior and embarrassing comments from people in the mainstream media. He once pleaded guilty to entering a senator’s office under false pretenses and was ousted by the board in 2023 amid allegations of financial improprieties.

Trump has been waging a legal and rhetorical fight against the media for a long time, especially in the last year. He successfully sued CBS and ABC for settlements worth at least $16 million each. He accused journalists and major news organizations of being corrupt, which he viewed as unfair. Trump said some media outlets should be tried for treason for their “lies” about the Iran conflict.

At the same time, Trump is gaining previously unthinkable levels of reach, holding constant news conferences and banter, and taking repeated short calls from reporters and anchors on his cell phone.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine speak at a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Secretary Pete Hegseth of the War Department also accused “dishonest” media outlets of deliberately highlighting American casualties and other negative war news to make Trump look bad.

But such criticism, even if warranted, is a far cry from the secretary’s move last October that gave his department broad authority to classify reporters as “security risks” and revoke their credentials. Moreover, journalists who regularly relied on anonymous sources had to agree to receive information only from people authorized to speak on behalf of the Pentagon.

The judge said this would only allow stories that were “positive or spoon-fed to department leadership.” He said evidence showed the department was targeting “disliked journalists” and trying to replace them with those “who are also willing to serve.”

Imagine the reaction on the right if Gavin Newsom were president and his secretary of defense went after journalists with conservative viewpoints.

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Friedman attributed his 40-page decision to the current military environment and even the midterms.

“Especially given the country’s recent attack on Venezuela and its ongoing war with Iran, it is more important than ever for the public to have access to information from a variety of perspectives about what the government is doing, so that the public can support government policies if they want to support them, they can protest if they want to protest them, and they can decide who to vote for in the next election based on full, complete, and clear information.”

Journalists ask many probing questions about the war. How can the United States break Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which blocks much of the world’s oil supply? How can Americans in surrounding Arab countries be protected from Iranian drones? What about rising gas prices at home?

In a statement on Friday, the Pentagon Press Association celebrated the judge’s decision that the new press pass policy would be unconstitutional. (Tom Brenner/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The President answered such questions at the press conference he held the day before without attacking the press. Angry at our European allies who refuse to protect the strait. He thought the increase in oil prices would be much worse. He had originally anticipated a timeline of four to six weeks, but now says he could declare victory and end “our offensive,” as he calls it, at any time.

Trump continues to emphasize that our military has broken through Iran’s defenses, and he is of course right, a fact that sometimes gets lost in the news.

The point is that journalists have to ask these questions in wartime. But it is more difficult for Pentagon reporters, who tend to be experts, to do their unlicensed jobs. They are not “in the room” as they say in “Hamilton”, but are looking in from the outside of the huge building.

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The situation changes if the judge’s interim injunction decision is valid. Defense reporters will no longer be excommunicated for doing their jobs or holding certain political views.

The vast majority of Americans may not care, but the press corps — for all its flaws and excesses — ensures they get the full story when the stakes are life or death.