Just because JT goes on a (well deserved) vacation after harvest, doesn’t mean we stop the work here at Grounded.
A lot has happened since our last episode, including the suspension of ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel, the memorial for Charlie Kirk, President Trump’s comments about hating his opponents, and more.
One story that raised a lot of eyebrows at the end of last week was news that the Pentagon is issuing new requirements for journalists that mandate reporters sign a pledge not to report on, obtain or use material that’s unauthorized, even if it’s unclassified. Basically—they can’t report without oversight from the government. If they do, they will lose their press credentials. That’s rigid enough, but could defying that order lead to even more punitive action? Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made this comment on X:
A lot of people and organizations are weighing in and weighing legal action. Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said the new rules are “so dumb I have a hard time believing it is true.”
We went to Kevin Baron, a longtime journalist who used to be the VP of the Pentagon Press Association. What does this mean for national security? What does this mean to the public’s access to real information? What if we enter a new conflict? How about the future of a free press? We unpack it all, including new pressure from the Trump administration to prosecute political rivals in a Truth Social post that has since been deleted (seen below).
JT will be back at the end of this week, when we go live with independent journalist Tara Palmeri!
