The new Pentagon press corps gathered last week for their first in-person briefing. That’s since almost all credentialed reporters from traditional media companies surrendered their passes in October to protest new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s strict media policy.
Refusing to sign a 21-page Pentagon document that in effect banned journalists from trying to solicit any kind of information that was not pre-approved, the Pentagon instead issued passes to a newly credentialed corps of influencers, conspiracy theorists, and conservative commentators who happily agreed to the strict rules.
The handpicked press corps were active on social media last week as they documented their first few days on the jobs. “The Fake News is OUT,” Wade Searle, who works for LifeSiteNews, a right-wing Catholic publication, posted on X. “LifeSiteNews is IN.”
“The A-Team press corps has taken over type beat,” 23-year-old MAGA influencer Lance Johnston posted. He also uploaded a slideshow of photos of himself posing with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
Others were otherwise occupied fighting over the desks of former press corp reporters. “The Pentagon cubicle that used to belong to @DanLamothe is now mine,” RC Maxwell, a reporter at the conservative outlet RedScare, posted on X, referring to a journalist at The Washington Post. “Out with the propagandists and hacks. In with the truth tellers who love America.”
Conservative influencer Cam Higby and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer also shared photos of themselves claiming to be sitting in Lamothe’s old spot. The Post reporter shared a compilation of the images on X, writing, “Y’all are going to have to work this one out for yourselves.”
During the three-day event, the new press corps didn’t miss an opportunity to take shots at their predecessors. “MSM Journalists wreaked havoc on the Pentagon during their time in the building,” posted Higby on X. He claimed that the “adversarial media” created a “hostile work environment” for staff, echoed by Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson who spoke of former press corp members “waltzing” into her office and “eavesdropping” on officials’ meetings.
