Pentagon’s embrace of alternative media might lead to ‘propaganda,’ say propagandists

Propagandists in the legacy media are concerned that the Pentagon’s embrace of alternative or independent media will lead to “propaganda.”

On January 31st, the Pentagon issued a memo announcing an Annual Media Rotation Program that will replace embedded mainstream media outlets with independent and mainly conservative-leaning ones in the Pentagon’s Correspondents’ Corridor. The corridor is a suite of offices within the Pentagon used by legacy news corporations like The New York Times and NBC News, giving them immediate and regular access to DoD activities.

Former CBS News anchor Katie Couric, who has been involved in multiple reporting scandals involving deceptive editing and plagiarism, expressed concern that the Pentagon’s inclusion of independent media outlets may fuel propaganda.

“Wow. This is how news becomes propaganda. It’s begun. Pay attention,” Couric tweeted on X.

Users responded by pointing out Couric’s own propaganda.

“Remember that time you deceptively edited an interview in order to push your anti-2nd Amendment agenda?” asked The Federalist Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway, referring to Couric’s 2016 documentary titled “Under the Gun.” The film showed Couric asking gun rights activists a question about background checks, to which the activists appeared speechless. But they hadn’t been speechless; there were six minutes of answers in the interview that Couric’s team omitted.

Taking out the trash

In its first memo about the Annual Media Rotation Program, the DoD asked four media outlets—The New York Times, NBC News, NPR, and Politico—to vacate their offices in the Correspondents' Corridor by February 14th, to be replaced by One America News Network, the New York Post, Breitbart, and HuffPost. Last week, the DoD issued a second memo, this time ousting CNN, Washington Post, The Hill, The War Zone, and welcoming The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, Newsmax, and The Free Press. 

It is unclear whether the outgoing news companies will be allowed to return next year.

“Each year, one outlet from each press medium — print, online, television and radio — that has enjoyed working from a physical office in the Pentagon will rotate out of the building to allow a new outlet from the same medium that has not had the unique opportunity to report as a resident member of the Pentagon Press Corps,” the memo stated.

“To be clear, the outlets that vacate the spaces loaned to them by the Secretary will remain as full members of the Pentagon Press Corps,” the Pentagon clarified. “They will continue to enjoy the same media access to the Pentagon and will be able to attend and cover briefings and be considered for travel with civilian and military leaders in the Department as they have previously.”

Legacy media displeased

The ousted news outlets expressed their disappointment at being removed from their perch.

“We’re disappointed by the decision to deny us access to a broadcasting booth at the Pentagon that we’ve used for many decades,” NBC News said in a statement. “Despite the significant obstacles this presents to our ability to gather and report news in the national public interest, we will continue to report with the same integrity and rigor NBC News always has.”

"Steps designed to impede access are clearly not in the public interest," the New York Times said in a statement.

The National Press Club also expressed its displeasure.

“The National Press Club is deeply concerned by the Defense Department’s decision to remove certain media organizations from their dedicated spaces in the Pentagon. Any action that restricts the ability of journalists to report on the operations of the U.S. government should alarm all who value transparency and press freedom,” National Press Club President Mike Balsamo said.

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