Articles of Distraction

[Angrboda]

Journalists turn in press passes as Pentagon clamps down on access in ‘unprecedented’ move

Tony Bertuca, chief Pentagon editor for Inside Defense, which produces subscription newsletters for the industry, said the new policy is part of a pattern.

“The government has been discouraging inquiry at the Pentagon for months now: practically zero press briefings and gaggles, and lots of one-way communication with the public through social media,” he said.

The credentialing change will make it even more difficult to question officials at “an agency that makes life-and-death decisions and spends hundreds of billions of dollars in public money every year.”

However, Bertuca said Wednesday, as he headed to the building to hand in his badge, “the defense beat is all about following the money. With a $1 trillion budget? They can’t hide. And I’m not going to stop doing my job.”