Andrew Thornebrooke, a national security reporter, wrote in his resignation letter that he can no longer support the direction the paper is taking. He pointed out that the paper is becoming more willing to spread partisan content, publish untrue information, and control how its reporters present news to shape what readers think. This letter was obtained by The New York Times.
Thornebrooke also said that his former employer has stopped being responsible journalists and is now just repeating government messages.
He criticized an instruction from the Epoch Times that forces reporters to call “antifa” a terrorist group. This is part of a larger effort by conservatives to label all of Trump’s opponents as violent extremists. His administration is using this vague term to justify harsh and oppressive actions.
Thornebrooke told The New York Times that reporters at the Epoch Times aren’t allowed to check the final versions of their articles before they are published.
Editors sometimes change real facts in his stories and replace them with false information. He said these changes were meant to show the Trump administration in the best possible light.
The Epoch Times was one of only three U.S. news outlets that signed Pete Hegseth’s “pledge.”
This agreement limits the news outlets from covering information not officially approved for release. It also restricts the areas journalists can visit at the Pentagon without being accompanied and stops them from asking for leaked information that isn’t allowed to be shared.
On Wednesday, between 40 and 50 reporters from news outlets that refused to sign the pledge handed back their press credentials and left their desks at the Pentagon.
The attacks on the free press by Hegseth and Trump are happening at the same time the administration is increasing attacks on boats in the Caribbean and moving the United States closer to war with Venezuela.
Now more than ever, we need reporters who are brave and free enough to report the truth about what is happening at the Department of Defense.
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