Pentagon Reporters Quit Over New Rules but Keep Breaking Stories

Reporters relied on sources to break down and add nuance to stories about U.S. attacks on boats suspected of involvement in the drug trade in the Caribbean and military leadership in the region.

This comes at a time when many people are still wondering how their jobs will change and where they will work. Who will talk to them? – caused by disagreement. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has demanded that journalists give up their workplaces at the Pentagon unless they accept rules that he says will penalize them for reporting anything beyond what he wants them to say.

The Pentagon called the changes “common sense” and accused journalists of mischaracterizing them.

“The complacent media has chosen to self-export from the Pentagon,” Hegseth’s chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, said on social media. “It’s their right, but it’s also their loss. They won’t be missed.”

Breaking news on US attack on survivors Although most of the press had left the Pentagon, it was clear from the stories that some sources were still talking.

Reuters on Thursday broke the news of the first US attack on a boat in the Caribbean, where some of the passengers survived. Before leaving on Wednesday, reporter Phil Stewart, who was stationed at the Pentagon, relayed the incident to an unnamed “US official.” President Donald Trump confirmed the attack on Friday as more details emerged, including the detention of two men in the United States.

The New York Times reported that U.S. Navy Admiral Alvin Holsey, the leader of the U.S. Southern Command, which oversaw operations in Central and South America, including the use of the military in the administration’s anti-drug efforts, has abruptly retired.

Times reporter Eric Schmitt, who deals with national security, and Tyler Pager from the White House reported that two unnamed officials expressed concerns about Holsey’s mission and attacks on boats. Reporters noted the unusual nature of Holsey’s retirement a year into his expected three-year command.

Both Hegseth and Holsey released social media statements announcing their retirements late Thursday, but did not address the reasons why. A Times spokesman did not comment on whether the newspaper had launched an investigation into Holsey before the retirement was made public.

The Washington Post reported Friday that 15 people signed the new press policy. They included reporters from conservative publications such as the Federalist and Epoch Times and two reporters from One America News. The others were foreign media organizations and freelancers, six of whom were from Türkiye. No legacy media outlet accepted it.

The newspaper cited “a government document reviewed by the Washington Post.” The story was written by media writer Scott Nover, not a Pentagon reporter.

One reporter says the stories show there’s reason to be hopeful News outlets that said this week they would leave the Pentagon rather than accept Hegseth’s rules emphasized that it wouldn’t stop them from reporting on the military.

“There are reasons to be hopeful that people will still be able to deliver,” Nancy Youssef, a reporter for The Atlantic, said Friday. After leaving the Pentagon, he has been working largely in Atlantic’s Washington office, about three miles away.

Aside from the access issues created by the Pentagon departure, journalists also expressed concern that it would make it easier for Hegseth and his team to avoid questions about their actions. For example, Youssef said he asked what weapons were used in a previous boat attack, what the legal basis for the action was, and the identities of those killed. He didn’t get an answer.

Youssef also said he wondered whether journalists who do not follow Pentagon rules would be allowed to visit other military installations or cover military operations. This still remains unclear.

“If you’re in charge of the carrier strike group in the Navy, would you invite a journalist now?” he asked. “Practically speaking, are we allowed to go?”

Even before last week, Hegseth had taken steps to ban reporters from accessing large parts of the Pentagon without government protection. He and his team held only a few briefings for journalists.

Two journalists speaking on background said they were concerned about reduced opportunities for face-to-face contact with people working at the Pentagon as media outlets did not allow recorded interviews. Hegseth had begun requiring reporters to have an escort to visit the press offices of individual branches of the military, but there were still public information officers near where the reporters worked.

Many Pentagon reporters worked there for many years, developing sources in the building. It is not yet known how many people will answer their calls. “Some people will be scared,” one reporter said. “I think it’s inevitable.”

But Youssef noted in an article for The Atlantic that mid-level service members reached out to him, unsolicited, to promise they would continue to provide information to reporters. They said they would do this not to disobey current leadership, but to protect constitutional values, he wrote.