MaddowBlog-As Hegseth eyes new restrictions on the press, media outlets (including Fox News) refuse

[LetMyPeopleVote]

The beleaguered defense secretary is going so far to crack down on the free press that his former employer is rejecting his proposed restrictions.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/hegseth-eyes-new-restrictions-press-media-outlets-fox-news-refuse-rcna237628

Major broadcast news networks came to the same conclusion. NBC News reported on the joint statement issued by ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News Media and NBC News:

Today, we join virtually every other news organization in declining to agree to the Pentagon’s new requirements, which would restrict journalists’ ability to keep the nation and the world informed of important national security issues. ... The policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections. We will continue to cover the U.S. military as each of our organizations has done for many decades, upholding the principles of a free and independent press.

...In case this isn’t obvious, the fact that Fox News signed on to this statement is significant, not only because of the degree to which the network is aligned with Republican politics, but also because Fox was Hegseth’s employer as recently as last year.....

As best as I can tell, the only outlet that has endorsed Hegseth’s restrictions is a pro-Trump network called the One America News Network, or OAN.

So what happens now? We’re just hours away from the Pentagon chief’s deadline, and as NBC News’ report noted: “Any media professional who declines to sign has 24 hours to turn in their Pentagon press credential and ‘clear their spaces’ inside the sprawling government complex.” Watch this space.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. The Pentagon Press Association calls it: "A dark day for press freedom."

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. 'The Daily Show' mockingly agrees to Hegseth's press restrictions

Link to tweet

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5558261-daily-show-hegseths-pentagon-press-rules/

Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” poked fun at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday by mockingly agreeing to his new press restrictions at the Pentagon.

“After serious consideration, The Daily Show has agreed to the Pentagon’s new demands regarding press access,” the show said in a graphic posted on social media. “We were going to refuse, but everyone else rejected it so hard that it honestly made us feel kinda bad for Pete Hegseth.”

The statement went on to say of Hegseth, “the poor guy couldn’t even get Fox News to sign on and he worked for them a few months ago.”

“Even Newsmax refused. Brutal!” it said. “So we’re going to join in. Just so One America isn’t the only signature on this thing. It’s all just too humiliating.”.....

All of the nation’s major news organizations, including The Hill, have refused to sign the new policy, with a number of the major broadcast and cable news networks issuing a joint statement this week blasting the restrictions calling it “without precedent” and saying it “threatens core journalistic protections.”