The Pentagon Kicks the Press Out … Again

A judge ruled that the Pentagon’s recent restrictions on the press are unconstitutional. On this week’s On the Media, hear how Pete Hegseth’s ever-changing media policies have made it harder to cover military actions abroad. Plus, how a tenacious journalist used access to the Pentagon building to expose war crimes during the Vietnam War. [01:00] Host Micah Loewinger sits down with Dan Lamothe , who covers the US military and Pentagon for the Washington Post, to talk about leaving the Pentagon press corps alongside reporters from major news outlets in October of last year, after refusing to sign onto stringent new rules on how they could do their reporting. [09:45] Micah talks with Anna Merlan , senior reporter at Mother Jones, on the cast of right wing influencers and conspiracists now staffing the Pentagon press corps. Plus, Micah interviews content creator Cam Higby, a member of the new press corps, about why he agreed to the Pentagon’s restrictions on access. [33:23] Micah speaks with Laura Poitras, a journalist and filmmaker whose past works include CitizenFour , All the Beauty and the Bloodshed , and Risk , to discuss her latest documentary, Cover-Up , which chronicles the life of investigative journalist Seymour Hersh and his ferocious drive to uncover government wrongdoing, and what today’s press corps can learn from him. Further reading / watching: “ Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all ,” by Alex Horton and Ellen Nakashima “ ‘Signalgate’ report contradicts Hegseth’s claim of ‘total exoneration’ ,”by Dan Lamothe “ Meet the New Pentagon Press Corps, ” by Anna Merlan Cover-Up , directed and produced by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today ( ). Follow our show on Instagram , Bluesky , TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

You can listen to The Pentagon Kicks the Press Out … Again online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The Pentagon Kicks the Press Out … Again is an episode from On the Media by WNYC Studios.

This episode is 00:50:15 long.

This episode was published on Mar 27, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from On the Media when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.