It began with unrestrained joy and a flurry of selfies. 

When Pete Hegseth's Pentagon officially moved to sideline veteran military correspondents with decades of combined experience, the 'New Media' vanguard rushed in to fill the vacuum.

Influencers and conservative bloggers gleefully posted pictures of themselves lounging in the very seats once occupied by the legacy media. 

But just months later, that initial triumph has turned to a bitter realization, the Daily Mail can exclusively reveal. 

The new arrivals are finding themselves just as frustrated as the reporters they replaced – trapped in a system of 'amazing access' that yields almost 'zero reportable facts.'

One member of the Pentagon's 'new media' who asked to remain anonymous, described the frustration of reporters being flown across the country only to be gagged on arrival.

'They say this all the time to us now... access, access, access. But they haven't on the trip that I went on, they didn't do one on–the–record briefing. We can't talk about what we asked the secretary? To be honest, it feels more just like going on a free trip than working.'

When asked if they believed the department was practicing 'censorship,' the source said yes after a long pause.

'Honestly, yeah. They're controlling the messaging hard,' the conservative reporter told the Daily Mail. 'The information we new media members have but can't use... some of it would be breaking news. If a left–wing administration did this, conservatives would be throwing a fit.'

Two Pentagon insiders say Secretary Hegseth has his press team compile a daily list flagging stories written about him.

'He reads them all,' one source close to the press team says.

New Media reporters say there have been only a few trips so far.