Pay Attention

Yesterday, dozens of journalists from all the major TV networks as well as The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post and other media organizations, turned in their press badges and walked out of the Pentagon after U.S. Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, laid out new press rules for reporting on the U.S. military and matters of our national defense. Journalists were given an afternoon deadline for signing the Pentagon’s new press policy, but they walked out before that deadline. Some of the  journalists had reported on the Pentagon for almost 20 years.

They declined to sign the new agreement because they felt it would restrict their ability to keep our nation and the world informed about issues of national security. Hegseth’s new policy requires journalists to only publish information that has been authorized for release by the Pentagon even if the information is declassified.

This sounds an awful lot like a country such as Russia where the Kremlin gives directives for what the media is allowed to report. Any report that contradicts the official government narrative is considered criminal and can get the media outlet shut down.

Do we want that kind of censorship and information control in this country? I think not.

My first writing experiences were journalistic ones. I wrote and edited my high school news magazine after taking the required journalism courses where I learned the importance of objectivity in reporting. Later in college, I wrote about campus happenings and current events for The Purdue Exponent. In recent years, I was a staff writer for Lifestyles of Denton County Magazine, a regional magazine based in Texas. When I graduated from high school, I wanted to be a journalist, but life took me in other directions.

Journalism has a core commitment to accuracy and objectivity. Journalists research, interview and fact check before they write their pieces. They seek the truth and report it. Their job is to report the facts objectively and to keep their personal opinions to themselves. Journalists report on what’s happening in the world and help people understand how the events might have an impact on their lives.

Think back to your high school civics lessons. Freedom of the press is one of the five fundamental freedoms given to citizens of our country by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The other four are:  freedom of religion, freedom of speech, the right to assemble peaceably, and the right to petition the government. We must pay attention anytime there is an attempt to take away one of our fundamental freedoms!

Until now, freedom of the press has been a protected right to publish information without government interference, censorship or punishment. This power allows journalists to gather and report information, it encourages public debate…or freedom of speech, and it also holds those in power accountable.

All five of these freedoms are essential for our democracy but in my opinion, freedom of the press is the most important. When journalists can no longer report factual news to the American people, we become an uninformed, powerless electorate.

Thank God we have American journalists who will not tolerate censorship by our government and by government representatives who are ignorant of the freedoms guaranteed by our U.S. Constitution.