The American news organizations held their stories over concerns about endangering US troops.

The New York Times and Washington Post learned of a secret US raid on Venezuela soon before it was scheduled to begin Friday night — but held off publishing what they knew to avoid endangering US troops, two people familiar with the communications between the administration and the news organizations said.

The decisions in the New York and Washington newsrooms to maintain official secrecy is in keeping with longstanding American journalistic traditions — even at a moment of unprecedented mutual hostility between the American president and a legacy media that continues to dominate national security reporting. And it offers a rare glimpse at a thread of contact and even cooperation over some of the highest-stakes American national security issues.

Hegseth did not mention that part of that secrecy was the news outlets’ decision — unlike other countries, the US does not have a mechanism for the government to prevent publication of secrets — to hold off their reporting for several hours after the administration warned that reporting could have exposed American troops performing the operation.

Spokespeople for the White House, the Pentagon, and the Washington Post declined to comment on the conversations between journalists and officials Friday night. A Times spokesperson didn’t immediately offer a response to an inquiry.

  • Hegar@fedia.io
    261·
    3 days ago

    to avoid endangering US troops

    This is a straight up lie. They held off to avoid blowing the lid on the US regime’s undeniably illegal actions.

    If they had reported on government malfesance as is their sacred duty, they might have stopped a crime before it happened.

      • Hegar@fedia.io
        2·
        2 days ago

        Alerting venezuela to the risk might have foiled the operation.

        Galvanizing public opinion beforehand might have led them to rethink. Continuing against public opinion costs more political capital than selling it after it’s already done. Authoritarian regimes can ignore public opinion more than representative ones, but they still can’t ignore it entirely.

        Maybe reporting the story wouldn’t change the outcome, but it’s a possibility.

  • febra@lemmy.world
    11·
    2 days ago

    The Western media hegemony working in lockstep with its handlers in the White House, regardless of their pretend positioning as for or against the current American regime.