The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart The Pentagon’s Press Purge
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Oct 23, 2025 In this discussion, Nancy Youssef, an Atlantic staff writer renowned for her military reporting, David Lapan, a retired Marine Corps Colonel with deep Pentagon experience, and Thomas Brennan, founder of The War Horse, tackle the Pentagon's new press restrictions. They explore the implications of tightening press access, the erosion of trust, and how it affects military journalism. They also highlight the dangers of operating in a culture of fear, and the role of independent reporting in maintaining accountability and transparency in a massive institution.
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Access Widened The Public's View
- Pentagon access historically allowed reporters to widen the aperture on military decisions through face-to-face engagement.
- Nancy Youssef says that access built public trust in funding and sending troops by making the military more visible.
Policy Wants Pentagon Approval For Reporting
- New Pentagon rules would bar reporters from soliciting or publishing unapproved information and treat unapproved unclassified reporting as a security risk.
- Nancy Youssef frames the policy as a fundamental rejection of journalistic independence.
Refuse Contracts That Undermine Independence
- Refusing to sign the Pentagon pledge preserves journalistic independence and credibility.
- David Lapan advises not to cede editorial judgment to the institution you cover.
