Latest news with #Cuccia
The Hill
5 hours ago
- Business
- The Hill
Reporter says she was fired from Trump-friendly outlet after criticizing Hegseth
The former chief Pentagon correspondent for conservative outlet One America News Network (OANN) said she was fired from her position after criticizing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a Substack post on Memorial Day. A self-described 'MAGA girl,' Gabrielle Cuccia began her post last week by stressing that 'I was (and still am) unapologetically defiant in my support for President Trump.' But she tore into the president's top Pentagon appointee, criticizing Hegseth for his new rules blocking reporters' access to areas of the Pentagon, saying the 'real' leaks at the Defense Department 'haven't come from the press. They've come from Hegseth's own team and other senior officials.' 'Let's call this what it is: limiting freedom of movement in the name of 'national security,'' she wrote in the Substack about the new access restrictions. 'The Pentagon wants to paint a picture that journalists are freely roaming classified spaces, sneaking into SCIFs, and leaking top-secret information. And that is simply not true,' she wrote. 'There are security cameras everywhere, protocols in place and quite frankly, it would be painfully obvious if a reporter was in a space they didn't belong.' She defended other reporters at the Pentagon and the work they do. 'It's pretty obvious how I feel about fake news outlets like CNN, MSNBC, CBS, and ABC,' she wrote, adding, however, that, 'I also watched, and continue to watch, the Pentagon beat reporters for those other networks. I see the stories they publish. I read their questions.' 'And while I think their obsession with advocating for transgender inclusion in the military is a complete waste of time and taxpayer resources — I can still confidently say that these reporters are not a national security threat,' she added. Cuccia also blasted Hegseth for failing to hold press conferences and said Hegseth's team contacted her in advance 'for the one and only press briefing conducted' to ask what questions she planned on asking. 'Over at the White House, the Administration understands the freedom of the press, and keeps the door open anyway. And they would certainly not field questions *before* said press briefing,' she added. Shortly after the fiery Substack post, Cuccia said she was no longer employed at OANN. 'By Friday,' Cuccia said, according to The Associated Press, 'I was out of a job.' DOD did not pull Cuccia's credentials, according to the AP, which cited an anonymous Defense official. OAN's president told the AP he would not discuss personnel matters. Cuccia told the AP that OAN told her that the Substack piece had been 'put on their radar,' but declined to elaborate further and would not detail discussions she had with her former employer. 'When a reporter asks inconvenient questions about government overreach, the response should be accountability — not silence, and certainly not separation,' Cuccia said, the AP reported. The Hill has reached out to Cuccia and OAN.
13 hours ago
- Politics
OAN's Pentagon reporter learns the limits of expressing her own opinion
Assigned to cover the Pentagon for the conservative outlet One America News Network, Gabrielle Cuccia didn't pretend to be an unbiased reporter. She describes herself as 'a MAGA girl' who is unapologetically defiant in her support of President Donald Trump. Yet days after publicly criticizing a Trump appointee, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Cuccia found herself out of a job. In taking to Substack last week to express a personal opinion about a figure she covers, Cuccia did something that would be frowned upon in many legacy newsrooms. The message that she was sent, however, is most likely to resound in places where opinion is fine — but only a certain variety. Cuccia's lengthy Substack post, 'The Secretary of Defense-ive,' was posted three days after Hegseth issued new rules that banned reporters from accessing large areas of the Pentagon without being watched by his minders. She criticized him for limiting freedom of movement in the name of national security. 'The Pentagon wants to paint a picture 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 security cameras everywhere, protocols in place and quite frankly, it would be painfully obvious if a reporter was in a space they didn't belong.' Cuccia said the real leaks from the Pentagon have come from Hegseth's own team and other senior officials. Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, was embarrassed in March when The Atlantic magazine's editor-in-chief was mistakenly included in a Signal chat in which the defense secretary discussed upcoming military strikes. She criticized Hegseth for not yet holding a media briefing at the Pentagon. 'The Commander-in-Chief welcomes the hard questions ... and yes, even the dumb ones,' she wrote. 'Why won't the Secretary of Defense do the same?' Three days after her Memorial Day Substack post, Cuccia said her Pentagon access badge was revoked. 'By Friday," she said, 'I was out of a job.' The Defense Department did not pull Cuccia's credentials, according to a Defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues. Cuccia said OAN told her the Substack piece had been 'put on their radar,' but she wouldn't say by who. She wouldn't speak further about what her employer told her, and OAN president Charles Herring told The Associated Press that it does not discuss personnel issues. 'When a reporter asks inconvenient questions about government overreach, the response should be accountability — not silence, and certainly not separation,' Cuccia said. Traditionally, the legacy media does not want its journalists expressing opinions about people they cover, since it calls into doubt their ability to report without bias. But exceptions are often made in cases where media access is at issue, said Tom Rosenstiel, a journalism professor at the University of Maryland. The New York Times, for example, institutionally called upon Joe Biden to meet more often with journalists when he was president. The Pentagon Press Association said Hegseth's restrictions were a direct assault on the freedom of the press. One America News Network makes no secret of its allegiance to Trump. When Matt Gaetz's nomination as Trump's attorney general fell apart following the election, OAN quickly signed him up as a contributor. OAN faced lawsuits — and negotiated settlements — for its promotion of Trump's false theories that he did not lose the 2020 election. When Hegseth earlier this year evicted several news organizations from their Pentagon workspaces and gave more room to friendly outlets, Cuccia was assigned space formerly held by NBC News. Before Hegseth aide Sean Parnell's only media briefing, Cuccia said Hegseth's team reached out to her in advance to find out what questions she wanted to ask, something that would never be done for most media outlets. If OAN is responsible for removing Cuccia, it's a 'take no quarter position,' Rosenstiel said. 'There is no room, if you're on the team, to say anything that is negative.' He said he'd be interested to see if any representatives from pro-Trump media outlets defend her. 'Are they silent, or do they rally to her in any way?' he asked. Trump, in the past, has frequently criticized Fox News Channel for saying anything on the air that he deemed negative. Part of Cuccia's Substack post sounded almost prescient about what might happen to her, when she reminisced about the energy of the early Make America Great Again movement. Questioning government then, she noted, was a point of pride. 'Somewhere along the way, we as a collective decided — if anyone ever questioned a policy or person within the MAGA movement — that they weren't MAGA enough," she wrote. "That they were deep state, that they couldn't be trusted, that they didn't love America as much as we do and that ... to put it bluntly, they sucked.'
San Francisco Chronicle
15 hours ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
OAN's Pentagon reporter learns the limits of expressing her own opinion
Assigned to cover the Pentagon for the conservative outlet One America News Network, Gabrielle Cuccia didn't pretend to be an unbiased reporter. She describes herself as 'a MAGA girl' who is unapologetically defiant in her support of President Donald Trump. Yet days after publicly criticizing a Trump appointee, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Cuccia found herself out of a job. In taking to Substack last week to express a personal opinion about a figure she covers, Cuccia did something that would be frowned upon in many legacy newsrooms. The message that she was sent, however, is most likely to resound in places where opinion is fine — but only a certain variety. Cuccia's lengthy Substack post, 'The Secretary of Defense-ive,' was posted three days after Hegseth issued new rules that banned reporters from accessing large areas of the Pentagon without being watched by his minders. She criticized him for limiting freedom of movement in the name of national security. Cuccia praises responsible Pentagon reporters 'The Pentagon wants to paint a picture 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 security cameras everywhere, protocols in place and quite frankly, it would be painfully obvious if a reporter was in a space they didn't belong.' Cuccia said the real leaks from the Pentagon have come from Hegseth's own team and other senior officials. Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, was embarrassed in March when The Atlantic magazine's editor-in-chief was mistakenly included in a Signal chat in which the defense secretary discussed upcoming military strikes. She criticized Hegseth for not yet holding a media briefing at the Pentagon. 'The Commander-in-Chief welcomes the hard questions ... and yes, even the dumb ones,' she wrote. 'Why won't the Secretary of Defense do the same?' Three days after her Memorial Day Substack post, Cuccia said her Pentagon access badge was revoked. 'By Friday," she said, 'I was out of a job.' The Defense Department did not pull Cuccia's credentials, according to a Defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues. Cuccia said OAN told her the Substack piece had been 'put on their radar,' but she wouldn't say by who. She wouldn't speak further about what her employer told her, and OAN president Charles Herring told The Associated Press that it does not discuss personnel issues. 'When a reporter asks inconvenient questions about government overreach, the response should be accountability — not silence, and certainly not separation,' Cuccia said. Traditionally, the legacy media does not want its journalists expressing opinions about people they cover, since it calls into doubt their ability to report without bias. But exceptions are often made in cases where media access is at issue, said Tom Rosenstiel, a journalism professor at the University of Maryland. The New York Times, for example, institutionally called upon Joe Biden to meet more often with journalists when he was president. The Pentagon Press Association said Hegseth's restrictions were a direct assault on the freedom of the press. Making no secret of allegiance to Trump One America News Network makes no secret of its allegiance to Trump. When Matt Gaetz's nomination as Trump's attorney general fell apart following the election, OAN quickly signed him up as a contributor. OAN faced lawsuits — and negotiated settlements — for its promotion of Trump's false theories that he did not lose the 2020 election. When Hegseth earlier this year evicted several news organizations from their Pentagon workspaces and gave more room to friendly outlets, Cuccia was assigned space formerly held by NBC News. Before Hegseth aide Sean Parnell's only media briefing, Cuccia said Hegseth's team reached out to her in advance to find out what questions she wanted to ask, something that would never be done for most media outlets. If OAN is responsible for removing Cuccia, it's a 'take no quarter position,' Rosenstiel said. 'There is no room, if you're on the team, to say anything that is negative.' He said he'd be interested to see if any representatives from pro-Trump media outlets defend her. 'Are they silent, or do they rally to her in any way?' he asked. Trump, in the past, has frequently criticized Fox News Channel for saying anything on the air that he deemed negative. Part of Cuccia's Substack post sounded almost prescient about what might happen to her, when she reminisced about the energy of the early Make America Great Again movement. Questioning government then, she noted, was a point of pride. 'Somewhere along the way, we as a collective decided — if anyone ever questioned a policy or person within the MAGA movement — that they weren't MAGA enough," she wrote. "That they were deep state, that they couldn't be trusted, that they didn't love America as much as we do and that ... to put it bluntly, they sucked.'
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
OAN's Pentagon reporter learns the limits of expressing her own opinion
Assigned to cover the Pentagon for the conservative outlet One America News Network, Gabrielle Cuccia didn't pretend to be an unbiased reporter. She describes herself as 'a MAGA girl' who is unapologetically defiant in her support of President Donald Trump. Yet days after publicly criticizing a Trump appointee, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Cuccia found herself out of a job. In taking to Substack last week to express a personal opinion about a figure she covers, Cuccia did something that would be frowned upon in many legacy newsrooms. The message that she was sent, however, is most likely to resound in places where opinion is fine — but only a certain variety. Cuccia's lengthy Substack post, 'The Secretary of Defense-ive,' was posted three days after Hegseth issued new rules that banned reporters from accessing large areas of the Pentagon without being watched by his minders. She criticized him for limiting freedom of movement in the name of national security. Cuccia praises responsible Pentagon reporters 'The Pentagon wants to paint a picture 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 security cameras everywhere, protocols in place and quite frankly, it would be painfully obvious if a reporter was in a space they didn't belong.' Cuccia said the real leaks from the Pentagon have come from Hegseth's own team and other senior officials. Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, was embarrassed in March when The Atlantic magazine's editor-in-chief was mistakenly included in a Signal chat in which the defense secretary discussed upcoming military strikes. She criticized Hegseth for not yet holding a media briefing at the Pentagon. 'The Commander-in-Chief welcomes the hard questions ... and yes, even the dumb ones,' she wrote. 'Why won't the Secretary of Defense do the same?' Three days after her Memorial Day Substack post, Cuccia said her Pentagon access badge was revoked. 'By Friday," she said, 'I was out of a job.' The Defense Department did not pull Cuccia's credentials, according to a Defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues. Cuccia said OAN told her the Substack piece had been 'put on their radar,' but she wouldn't say by who. She wouldn't speak further about what her employer told her, and OAN president Charles Herring told The Associated Press that it does not discuss personnel issues. 'When a reporter asks inconvenient questions about government overreach, the response should be accountability — not silence, and certainly not separation,' Cuccia said. Traditionally, the legacy media does not want its journalists expressing opinions about people they cover, since it calls into doubt their ability to report without bias. But exceptions are often made in cases where media access is at issue, said Tom Rosenstiel, a journalism professor at the University of Maryland. The New York Times, for example, institutionally called upon Joe Biden to meet more often with journalists when he was president. The Pentagon Press Association said Hegseth's restrictions were a direct assault on the freedom of the press. Making no secret of allegiance to Trump One America News Network makes no secret of its allegiance to Trump. When Matt Gaetz's nomination as Trump's attorney general fell apart following the election, OAN quickly signed him up as a contributor. OAN faced lawsuits — and negotiated settlements — for its promotion of Trump's false theories that he did not lose the 2020 election. When Hegseth earlier this year evicted several news organizations from their Pentagon workspaces and gave more room to friendly outlets, Cuccia was assigned space formerly held by NBC News. Before Hegseth aide Sean Parnell's only media briefing, Cuccia said Hegseth's team reached out to her in advance to find out what questions she wanted to ask, something that would never be done for most media outlets. If OAN is responsible for removing Cuccia, it's a 'take no quarter position,' Rosenstiel said. 'There is no room, if you're on the team, to say anything that is negative.' He said he'd be interested to see if any representatives from pro-Trump media outlets defend her. 'Are they silent, or do they rally to her in any way?' he asked. Trump, in the past, has frequently criticized Fox News Channel for saying anything on the air that he deemed negative. Part of Cuccia's Substack post sounded almost prescient about what might happen to her, when she reminisced about the energy of the early Make America Great Again movement. Questioning government then, she noted, was a point of pride. 'Somewhere along the way, we as a collective decided — if anyone ever questioned a policy or person within the MAGA movement — that they weren't MAGA enough," she wrote. "That they were deep state, that they couldn't be trusted, that they didn't love America as much as we do and that ... to put it bluntly, they sucked.' ___ AP correspondent Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at and
Winnipeg Free Press
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
OAN's Pentagon reporter learns the limits of expressing her own opinion
Assigned to cover the Pentagon for the conservative outlet One America News Network, Gabrielle Cuccia didn't pretend to be an unbiased reporter. She describes herself as 'a MAGA girl' who is unapologetically defiant in her support of President Donald Trump. Yet days after publicly criticizing a Trump appointee, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Cuccia found herself out of a job. In taking to Substack last week to express a personal opinion about a figure she covers, Cuccia did something that would be frowned upon in many legacy newsrooms. The message that she was sent, however, is most likely to resound in places where opinion is fine — but only a certain variety. Cuccia's lengthy Substack post, 'The Secretary of Defense-ive,' was posted three days after Hegseth issued new rules that banned reporters from accessing large areas of the Pentagon without being watched by his minders. She criticized him for limiting freedom of movement in the name of national security. Cuccia praises responsible Pentagon reporters 'The Pentagon wants to paint a picture 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 security cameras everywhere, protocols in place and quite frankly, it would be painfully obvious if a reporter was in a space they didn't belong.' Cuccia said the real leaks from the Pentagon have come from Hegseth's own team and other senior officials. Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, was embarrassed in March when The Atlantic magazine's editor-in-chief was mistakenly included in a Signal chat in which the defense secretary discussed upcoming military strikes. She criticized Hegseth for not yet holding a media briefing at the Pentagon. 'The Commander-in-Chief welcomes the hard questions … and yes, even the dumb ones,' she wrote. 'Why won't the Secretary of Defense do the same?' Three days after her Memorial Day Substack post, Cuccia said her Pentagon access badge was revoked. 'By Friday,' she said, 'I was out of a job.' The Defense Department did not pull Cuccia's credentials, according to a Defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues. Cuccia said OAN told her the Substack piece had been 'put on their radar,' but she wouldn't say by who. She wouldn't speak further about what her employer told her, and OAN president Charles Herring told The Associated Press that it does not discuss personnel issues. 'When a reporter asks inconvenient questions about government overreach, the response should be accountability — not silence, and certainly not separation,' Cuccia said. Traditionally, the legacy media does not want its journalists expressing opinions about people they cover, since it calls into doubt their ability to report without bias. But exceptions are often made in cases where media access is at issue, said Tom Rosenstiel, a journalism professor at the University of Maryland. The New York Times, for example, institutionally called upon Joe Biden to meet more often with journalists when he was president. The Pentagon Press Association said Hegseth's restrictions were a direct assault on the freedom of the press. Making no secret of allegiance to Trump One America News Network makes no secret of its allegiance to Trump. When Matt Gaetz's nomination as Trump's attorney general fell apart following the election, OAN quickly signed him up as a contributor. OAN faced lawsuits — and negotiated settlements — for its promotion of Trump's false theories that he did not lose the 2020 election. When Hegseth earlier this year evicted several news organizations from their Pentagon workspaces and gave more room to friendly outlets, Cuccia was assigned space formerly held by NBC News. Before Hegseth aide Sean Parnell's only media briefing, Cuccia said Hegseth's team reached out to her in advance to find out what questions she wanted to ask, something that would never be done for most media outlets. If OAN is responsible for removing Cuccia, it's a 'take no quarter position,' Rosenstiel said. 'There is no room, if you're on the team, to say anything that is negative.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. He said he'd be interested to see if any representatives from pro-Trump media outlets defend her. 'Are they silent, or do they rally to her in any way?' he asked. Trump, in the past, has frequently criticized Fox News Channel for saying anything on the air that he deemed negative. Part of Cuccia's Substack post sounded almost prescient about what might happen to her, when she reminisced about the energy of the early Make America Great Again movement. Questioning government then, she noted, was a point of pride. 'Somewhere along the way, we as a collective decided — if anyone ever questioned a policy or person within the MAGA movement — that they weren't MAGA enough,' she wrote. 'That they were deep state, that they couldn't be trusted, that they didn't love America as much as we do and that … to put it bluntly, they sucked.' ___ AP correspondent Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at and
