By Brian Stelter, CNN

(CNN) — Journalists who cover the US military say they are extremely concerned by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s constraints on press access at the Pentagon. They say the newest restrictions, outlined Friday night, appear to be “a direct attack on the freedom of the press and America’s right to know what its military is doing.”

The sharp words from the Pentagon Press Association came after Hegseth announced “additional credentialing procedures for press at the Pentagon in the interest of national security.”

The changes make key parts of the Pentagon building off-limits to journalists unless they have an official escort.

Further restrictions are likely in the coming weeks, according to a Pentagon memo that alluded to a forthcoming pledge to protect military secrets and tougher scrutiny of press credentialing.

Friday night’s announcement is part of a pattern. Since January, Hegseth and his Trump administration allies have taken numerous steps to stifle independent media.

Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has set the tone by assailing his former colleague Jennifer Griffin (Fox’s national security correspondent) and other journalists.

Almost as soon as Hegseth took charge, some of the country’s biggest news outlets were booted from their dedicated Pentagon workspaces. In what the Defense Department called a “media rotation program,” smaller and explicitly pro-Trump media outlets were offered workspaces.

A few weeks later, the Pentagon said the press briefing room would be closed “when not in use for public briefings.”

Top Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, a close friend of Hegseth’s, has only held one press briefing to date.

On Friday, Parnell said on X that the access restrictions are “pragmatic changes to protect operational security.”

The memo outlining the restrictions said that “while the department remains committed to transparency, the department is equally obligated to protect (classified intelligence) and sensitive information, the unauthorized disclosure of which could put the lives of U.S. service members in danger.”

Hegseth himself stood accused of mishandling sensitive information in March when he sent detailed plans about a military operation in Yemen to a Signal group that included The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg.

The changes announced on Friday will make it more difficult for journalists to reach Hegseth. It will also eliminate “the media’s freedom to freely access press officers for the military services who are specifically hired to respond to press queries,” the Pentagon Press Association pointed out.

The association represents scores of journalists who regularly cover the military. In a statement, the association said it has been trying to reach out to Hegseth and his aides “to keep in place a professional working relationship that has persisted for decades,” but to no avail.

The association said it is “puzzled” about why the Defense Department “is devoting such attention to restricting Pentagon media instead of engaging with it as senior leaders have long done.”

Hegseth’s public comments indicate that he views the media as the opposition.

He has denounced what he called the “hoax press” and promoted himself by appearing on Fox opinion shows hosted by his friends.

He also enlisted right-wing content creators to increase the Defense Department’s promotional efforts on social media.

Podcaster Graham Allen, who helped Hegseth full-time for several months and said Friday that he was moving into a part-time role, dismissed a CBS journalist’s objections to the new restrictions by saying, “you can cry harder.”

But Mike Balsamo, the president of the National Press Club, said independent coverage of the military is in everyone’s interest.

“It keeps voters informed, strengthens democratic oversight, and sends a clear message to the world that America stands for openness and accountability,” Balsamo said. “Restricting access doesn’t protect national security. It undermines public trust.”

The-CNN-Wire
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