USC senior fellow @ center for comms leadership & policy.. More than two decades on CNN national security beat. Find me on Substack @barbarastarrreports
Joined March 2010
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Barbara Starr retweeted
At the White House in October 1963, six weeks before his assassination, JFK and a model of the National Cultural Center, later renamed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts:
Goodness me, the Secretary of DEFENSE seems to think reporters rely on a physical building to publish the news. Seriously?? Guess what buddy…News is everywhere..haven’t you noticed all the scoops of the pentagon press corps in recent months. You were at a network. Didn’t you ever file copy via your phone three minutes from air? We can all do that. Can you? Inside or outside the White House the reporting goes on.
The Department of War fully supports President Trump’s decision to kick CNN, MSN̶B̶C̶NOW and Politico to the curb so they can publish their Fake News from outside the White House.
We are grateful these outlets already chose to self-deport from the Pentagon. They endangered our troops with false stories, leaks, and trafficked in fiction and lies about the President, our Warriors, and their mission.
Barbara Starr retweeted
I lasted 11 days as White House Comms Director, and even I learned this: the press doesn't work for you, and banning reporters never kills the story. It becomes the story. A country where people can write negative things about the president isn't broken. That's the whole point of the country.
After weeks of Sean Spicer not calling on CNN I called on them first when I was in the Brady Press Room. Jim Acosta won years ago related to a ban and the Press will win again now.
Barbara Starr retweeted
Media lawyers will be citing this.
President Trump just said this ban was not triggered by one particular story, it's just "cumulative" because CNN doesn't cover the news to his liking. Wants more coverage of the positive, he said. We don't cover the lower drug prices, he says.
(FYI: cnn.com/2026/08/31/politics/… )
Barbara Starr retweeted
"CNN’s team remained at the White House Friday afternoon reporting the news."
cnn.com/2026/09/18/media/tru…
Barbara Starr retweeted
"A ban like this would be flatly unconstitutional. The First Amendment is clear that once the White House invites in some journalists, it can't ban others because it doesn't like their reporting. This is textbook viewpoint discrimination and will be quickly struck down by the courts if challenged."
–Bruce D. Brown, President of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Barbara Starr retweeted
Scoop from WaPo colleagues: More U.S. troops have died amid Iran war than Pentagon has disclosed publicly washingtonpost.com/national-…
Barbara Starr retweeted
NEW: The US military was prepared to board a Chinese vessel in the Middle East earlier this spring -- during war with Iran -- after an intel report concluded it was transporting components of a nuclear weapons program.
But just before the planned operation, officials discovered the report had been generated w/ help of AI & chatbot used by the analyst inaccurately identified what the ship was carrying, sources tell @KatieBoLillis & me.
CBS News Exclusive: New photos reveal widespread damage at multiple U.S. positions across the Middle East caused by Iranian attacks. cbsn.ws/4iP6Nfd
Impeachment is a not likely but independent watchdog now says weapons shortfalls are very real. W/ @bbc_helena . Politically grim days may lie ahead for Hegseth.
Barbara Starr retweeted
So… not merit based.
SCOOP: The Pentagon is asking commanders to nominate troops to attend Secretary Hegseth's “State of the Force” address this September, and says the servicemembers must meet waist-to-height requirements and exhibit “impeccable” grooming standards. wsj.com/politics/national-se…
Barbara Starr retweeted
Rep. Thomas Massie introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, alleging he had committed high crimes and misdemeanors.
washingtonsun.com/congress/t…
Barbara Starr retweeted
NEW: @SenThomTillis tells me he’s a hard no on DOD spox Sean Parnell, who is Hegseth’s choice for SecArmy. Faults him for ousting DOD press corps. “That's already demonstrated a lack of confidence. If you're proud of your work product, you want the press to ask you the tough Q’s”
Impact on oil prices for consumers worldwide as Houthis fight in Red Sea and Omanis postpone talks btw Gulf states and Iran w/ @SallyBundockBBC
Barbara Starr retweeted
In his first public appearance since leaving the Trump administration, former Sec. of the Army Dan Driscoll visited Kyiv, Ukraine. He warned of “an inflection point in warfare,” arguing that the world’s largest militaries “have not adopted the speed and the innovation that they need.” @yes_ukraine @PinchukFund
Barbara Starr retweeted
Intrepid Pentagon reporters @bstarrreports David Martin and 43 other super 9/11 journalists told their story in the film I directed, Reporting 9/11 and Why It Still Matters:
vimeo.com/1031268959/be005d6…
Barbara, David, Jim Mik, John McWethy, others in our book Covering Catastrophe.
Respect to the Pentagon Press Corps 25 years ago today. To: Jack/ABC my mentor, Mik/NBC, David/CBS, also Bob/ AP, Charlie/Reuters, Susanne/Ap, Jamie and Chris /CNN, Thom and Eric/NYT and so many others. That day, and every day after they never stopped reporting. Some have moved on, some have passed, some are still here. They are not forgotten and their work informed a generation.