It is a truth generally acknowledged that Pete Hegseth is a muttonhead. But I come not to bury the self-proclaimed “secretary of war” – rather, to praise him.

He is going to spur some superlative Pentagon coverage. Because nothing gets a bunch of reporters going like being forced out of the building where they work and being told they aren’t allowed to do their jobs.

Utterly unqualified: Former Fox News presenter Pete Hegseth is now in charge of the US military, with its trillion-dollar budget.Credit: AP

The Pentagon has said it will deny credentials to reporters who seek information that has not been approved for release. Hegseth already cut off access to large swaths of the Pentagon to reporters without escorts.

Journalists have walked the Pentagon’s halls since its opening in World War II. They could stake out Jim Mattis, a defence secretary in US President Donald Trump’s first term, when he picked up his clothes at in-house dry cleaners and have an off-the-record chat as he walked back to his office, shirts slung over his shoulder. They might bump into the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at a Pentagon Starbucks and have a conversation that could turn into a story.

Pentagon officials liked it because they could clock what the reporters were working on, and the reporters liked it because they could get tips.

Mainstream news outlets have generally been careful, responsible, sometimes even overly deferential, about........

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