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The Pentagon is limiting access to journalists, and that comes at a time when smaller publications that cover the military full time are already struggling financially. Many media watchdogs worry about who will be left to cover stories that matter to the nation's troops. Steve Walsh with WHRO in Norfolk has the story.
STEVE WALSH, BYLINE: Until recently, Steve Beynon was a national security reporter with military.com. A veteran of the war in Afghanistan, he got his start in journalism documenting the impact of troops who were exposed to toxic chemicals. It was reporting like that which later led to the passage of the PACT Act. Here's Beynon.
STEVE BEYNON: The PACT Act is a phenomenal example of how service members talking to reporters made stuff happen.
WALSH: Most of the early reporting came from trade publications like Stars and Stripes, Military Times and military.com, who focus on troops, their families and the veteran community. Beynon questions whether there will be enough reporting power out there to spur debate over anything similar to the PACT Act in the future.
BEYNON: We have hundreds of thousands of people that volunteer to serve their country, put their life on the line, but there's not really a watchdog for them if these trade outlets go away. There's a lot at stake.
WALSH: All of these publications are struggling to survive. Military Times went through a series of cutbacks in 2024. Beynon was let go by the new owners of military.com, ironically while he was on duty with the National Guard.
BEYNON: It's almost like a pincer movement against the press. It's 'cause we're getting squeezed from both sides. There's venture capitalists coming in and buying things they either don't understand or don't care about. And then on the other end, you have this attempted government oppression of the First Amendment.
WALSH: The Pentagon has pushed to make journalists sign a 17-page pledge to not report any information that is not sanctioned by the press office, including unclassified information. They risk losing their access to the building and all U.S. bases around the world. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has already limited access to top officials and decision-makers. The Pentagon rarely holds press briefings. Katherine Jacobsen is with the Committee to Protect Journalists.
KATHERINE JACOBSEN: What we've seen in the U.S. is a very concerning backsliding of democratic norms and along with that, freedom of the press, right? The two are interlinked. You can't have a good democracy, a healthy democracy without a healthy and free press and vice versa.
WALSH: Joel Simon, with the Newmark School of Journalism, is hoping there will be pushback.
JOEL SIMON: Obviously, there are deep divisions and polarization within the media as there are in every area of our society right now. But if there's one area where you can imagine a common front forming, this would be it.
WALSH: Beynon says this comes at a time when communities around many bases have already lost their local newspaper, which was often the first place troops and their families would turn when they had issues with mold in the barracks or problems with the water supply. He worries about the service member rumor mill getting out of control.
BEYNON: 'Cause you almost don't have an information traffic cop to verify things and to get proper context of things maybe the rank and file are talking about.
WALSH: In the next week, members of the press corps will have to decide whether to sign the pledge or, in the words of Secretary Hegseth, go home.
For NPR News, I'm Steve Walsh.
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