3 days ago
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Assigned to screen the Pentagon for the blimpish outlet One America News Network, Gabrielle Cuccia didn't unreal to beryllium an unbiased reporter. She describes herself arsenic “a MAGA girl” who is unapologetically defiant successful her enactment of President Donald Trump.
Yet days aft publically criticizing a Trump appointee, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Cuccia recovered herself retired of a job.
In taking to Substack past week to explicit a idiosyncratic sentiment astir a fig she covers, Cuccia did thing that would beryllium frowned upon successful galore bequest newsrooms. The connection that she was sent, however, is astir apt to resound successful places wherever sentiment is good — but lone a definite variety.
Cuccia's lengthy Substack post, “The Secretary of Defense-ive,” was posted 3 days aft Hegseth issued caller rules that banned reporters from accessing ample areas of the Pentagon without being watched by his minders.
She criticized him for limiting state of question successful the sanction of nationalist security.
“The Pentagon wants to overgarment a representation that journalists are freely roaming classified spaces, sneaking into (secure areas), and leaking top-secret information,” she wrote. “And that is simply not true. There are information cameras everywhere, protocols successful spot and rather frankly, it would beryllium painfully evident if a newsman was successful a abstraction they didn't belong.”
Cuccia said the existent leaks from the Pentagon person travel from Hegseth's ain squad and different elder officials. Hegseth, a erstwhile Fox News personality, was embarrassed successful March erstwhile The Atlantic magazine's editor-in-chief was mistakenly included successful a Signal chat successful which the defence caput discussed upcoming subject strikes.
She criticized Hegseth for not yet holding a media briefing astatine the Pentagon.
“The Commander-in-Chief welcomes the hard questions ... and yes, adjacent the dumb ones,” she wrote. “Why won't the Secretary of Defense bash the same?”
Three days aft her Memorial Day Substack post, Cuccia said her Pentagon entree badge was revoked. “By Friday," she said, “I was retired of a job.”
The Defense Department did not propulsion Cuccia's credentials, according to a Defense authoritative who spoke connected information of anonymity to sermon unit issues. Cuccia said OAN told her the Substack portion had been “put connected their radar,” but she wouldn't accidental by who. She wouldn't talk further astir what her leader told her, and OAN president Charles Herring told The Associated Press that it does not sermon unit issues.
“When a newsman asks inconvenient questions astir authorities overreach, the effect should beryllium accountability — not silence, and surely not separation,” Cuccia said.
Traditionally, the bequest media does not privation its journalists expressing opinions astir radical they cover, since it calls into uncertainty their quality to study without bias. But exceptions are often made successful cases wherever media entree is astatine issue, said Tom Rosenstiel, a journalism prof astatine the University of Maryland.
The New York Times, for example, institutionally called upon Joe Biden to conscionable much often with journalists erstwhile helium was president. The Pentagon Press Association said Hegseth’s restrictions were a nonstop battle connected the state of the press.
One America News Network makes nary concealed of its allegiance to Trump. When Matt Gaetz's information arsenic Trump's lawyer wide fell isolated pursuing the election, OAN rapidly signed him up arsenic a contributor. OAN faced lawsuits — and negotiated settlements — for its promotion of Trump's mendacious theories that helium did not suffer the 2020 election.
When Hegseth earlier this twelvemonth evicted respective quality organizations from their Pentagon workspaces and gave much country to affable outlets, Cuccia was assigned abstraction formerly held by NBC News. Before Hegseth adjutant Sean Parnell's lone media briefing, Cuccia said Hegseth's squad reached retired to her successful beforehand to find retired what questions she wanted to ask, thing that would ne'er beryllium done for astir media outlets.
If OAN is liable for removing Cuccia, it's a “take nary 4th position,” Rosenstiel said. “There is nary room, if you're connected the team, to accidental thing that is negative.”
He said he'd beryllium funny to spot if immoderate representatives from pro-Trump media outlets support her. “Are they silent, oregon bash they rally to her successful immoderate way?” helium asked. Trump, successful the past, has frequently criticized Fox News Channel for saying thing connected the aerial that helium deemed negative.
Part of Cuccia's Substack station sounded astir prescient astir what mightiness hap to her, erstwhile she reminisced astir the vigor of the aboriginal Make America Great Again movement. Questioning authorities then, she noted, was a constituent of pride.
“Somewhere on the way, we arsenic a corporate decided — if anyone ever questioned a argumentation oregon idiosyncratic wrong the MAGA question — that they weren't MAGA enough," she wrote. "That they were heavy state, that they couldn't beryllium trusted, that they didn't emotion America arsenic overmuch arsenic we bash and that ... to enactment it bluntly, they sucked.”
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AP analogous Lolita C. Baldor successful Washington contributed to this report. David Bauder writes astir the intersection of media and amusement for the AP. Follow him astatine http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social
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