NPR and NYT Have Left the Building

And filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon. 

In the swirl of news this week, a story like this might seem innocuous, maybe even a little quaint. Journalists are suing the Pentagon over First Amendment Rights. This news isn't sensational and sounds a little too rational to attract much attention amidst the daily antics of the clown-car Administration.

Paying attention to the ways our country is being manhandled (please, take that literally) by top officials in the White House, in this case, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, now the U.S. Secretary of Defense, is like watching for termite burrows in your wood. It’s a sure sign that the destruction has begun, quietly and with tiny pinprick holes that you might not notice—unless you are aware of the devastation that is coming. 

My journalism professor in college would get teary-eyed when she talked about the First Amendment, and every year she would arrange a little party for her students with junk food and the 1975 movie All the President’s Men. On a Baptist college campus, she was an evangelist for the free press. They eventually asked her to leave, but not before our graduating class of journalism majors had soaked in all she had to teach us about what can happen to a country that muzzles journalists. 

I can imagine what Dr. McKee would have to say about the line of Pentagon press corps, exiting the building on October 15, carrying their packed boxes, in protest of the Pentagon’s new media policy. Keep fighting, probably with tears running down the angry red splotches on her cheeks. That policy includes a ban on credentialed journalists reporting even unclassified material that isn't expressly approved for public consumption by Defense Department brass. 

Now, the New York Times is suing the Pentagon, stating that the policy “will force reporters to rely solely upon officials for news involving the military and would unlawfully permit their punishment for failing to do so.”

Trump has a longstanding history, going back to his first term, of wanting the press to go away and stop reporting facts that contradict the not-exactly-true facts he prefers to spoon-feed the public. Those pesky journalists insist on digging for the truth, which is really annoying to an administration that wants the freedom to go its own way, good of the country be damned. 

But don’t worry, there was a line of “journalists” waiting to take the place of outlets like NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and others, including Fox News. The new press corps is a stellar group of media outlets that are ready to work for us, the people, as they repeat the lines expressly approved for public consumption by Defense Department brass. If you know even the slightest bit of history, that should start to ring alarm bells in your head. Or, maybe consider a few places where the media has no freedom to report the truth. Countries like Eritrea, China, North Korea, and Myanmar, where the government squashes factual reporting and sentences journalists who step out of bounds to very long prison sentences. This is exactly why we have the First Amendment. If a government goes rogue, the people won’t be in the dark or swayed by false narratives that allow said government to continue unchecked power (which is always and forever bad for the people, in case you were wondering). 

An example of the new arrivals ready to regurgitate exactly what the Defense Department feeds them: the far-right political activist Laura Loomer, a member of Trump’s mutual admiration society; the Gateway Pundit, a far-right website known for publishing falsehoods, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories and has declared bankruptcy to avoid liability for judgment in defamation suits; and LindellTV, backed by MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, who supported Trump’s false claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential elections. I feel better, don’t you? 

And if those alarm bells aren’t ringing loud by now, consider that earlier this week, the White House posted an online "media bias offender tipline," inviting tips from the public about news coverage critical of the administration. Critical of the administration? 

Here, in its original form, is the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, ratified December 15, 1791, forming what is known as the "Bill of Rights."[1]

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

A reminder, because I think this is easy to forget: This is our government, not theirs. 

I hope your alarm bells are ringing. 

[1] I’m recommending a book on my TBR: Jill Lepore’s We the People: A History of the Constitution. It’s long, and probably not one you would curl up with when you’re feeling tired, but maybe take it in bits and pieces, which is what I will do.