Something remarkably unremarkable happened this month.
The Pentagon held a briefing — a regular, routine, run-of-the-mill briefing, where reporters asked questions and a civilian spokesperson answered questions until the questions petered out.
And it’s not the first time.
Unlike the White House, where the long-standing, traditional daily press briefing has been consigned to the proverbial dustbin of history, the Pentagon is slowly trying to reestablish the moribund custom, and reclaim the credibility that goes with it.
When Mark Esper took over as defense secretary last July, one of his first acts was to meet with the embedded Pentagon reporters who cover the building daily and commit to being more transparent with them, and through them, the public.
Esper was inheriting a Pentagon press shop that was demoralized and neutered. It got whipsawed by presidential pronouncements it never saw coming and was unable or unwilling to answer basic questions because public affairs officers were either out of the loop or in fear of contradicting the White House.
His predecessor, Jim Mattis, was especially briefing-averse, appearing in the Pentagon’s high-tech briefing room only a handful of times, and only after all other options were exhausted.
By May 2018, former department spokeswoman Dana White had stopped briefings altogether, which marked the beginning of a one-year drought. During that time, staff used the recently remodeled Pentagon briefing room for occasional meetings and a backdrop for visitors to snap souvenir selfies in front of the seal on the unused podium.
But early on, Esper pledged to reinstate regular briefings to “maintain an open dialogue,” and, so far, six months into his tenure, he’s kept his pledge, appearing on the record, on-camera with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs by his side, at least once every calendar month.
Jonathan Hoffman, one of the department’s two primary politically appointed spokespersons, has also managed on-camera briefings on the average of once a month.
So far this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, the Pentagon has held roughly 50 briefings and backgrounders, and Esper himself has accounted for more than half of the media exposure, including off-camera briefings, speeches, forums, interviews, and appearances on Sunday news shows on CBS and CNN.
It’s not only a break from the reticence of the Mattis era; it’s also in stark contrast to the White House, where press secretary Stephanie Grisham has not held a single press briefing since she was appointed in June.
There is a big difference, of course.
Grisham works for President Trump, who is arguably the most accessible occupant of the White House ever.
Trump is his own best spokesman, engaging the press at nearly every opportunity, rarely refusing to answer questions, and sharing his every thought on Twitter.
Who needs someone to tell you what the president thinks when he’ll let you know himself if you wait an hour or two?
And as Grisham noted in an appearance on Fox and Friends this month, under Trump, the White House briefings had become highly combative, with reporters asking questions that, to Grisham, seemed highly politicized and aimed at self-promotion.
“They don’t want information because my team and I give them information every single day,” she said. “They want their moment on TV so that they can peddle their books.”
“If a press briefing does come back, you know, maybe we do off-camera. Maybe that would be better because then the grandstanding won’t happen.”
The dynamic at the Pentagon is decidedly different.
The journalists who cover the Pentagon are generally well-respected by civilian and military leaders and are not perceived as pursuing a political agenda.
Many reporters have offices inside the Pentagon and have covered the building for years, even decades, becoming subject matter experts themselves.
And while briefings are an essential way to get information and hold officials accountable, the Pentagon remains a beat that runs on sources.
There are 17-and-a-half miles of corridors in the world’s largest government office building, and almost all are open to reporters, who are free to roam practically everywhere and talk to nearly everyone.
The Pentagon is the only military headquarters in the world that gives reporters that kind of access, and it’s a testament that despite their necessarily adversarial relationship, there remains a level of mutual respect between military officials and the media that specialize in covering them.
The military remains one of America’s most trusted institutions. While in the age of social media, the old-school “spokesperson behind a lectern” may seem like a throwback to a bygone era, Esper has embraced its comeback for now.
“The United States military has a proud history and a great story to tell,” he said last year. “It is my commitment to the American people, who entrust us with their sons and daughters, to keep them informed of the work that our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Department of Defense civilians do every day to keep our nation safe.”
Jamie McIntyre is the Washington Examiner’s senior writer on defense and national security. His morning newsletter, “Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense,” is free and available by email subscription at dailyondefense.com.
