Not publishing newsworthy leaks isn’t journalistic integrity, it’s timidity
AP Photo/Jon Elswick
Reporting on leaked information informs the public, while claims of harm are often overblown.
Journalists routinely rely on leaked information to inform the public. Without leaks, we’d be left in the dark about vital information involving the government, corporations, and powerful individuals, who often act in secret.
When government information is leaked, the U.S. routinely claims, without proof, that the leak damages national security. We should be skeptical of claims that leaks cause harm, and of broad leak investigations that can lead to the surveillance of journalists and sources and the chilling of reporting.
Featured Items
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A Statement on Rep. Peter King's Call for the Prosecution of Journalists
Last night, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) publicly called for the prosecution of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald for his recent reports showing that the NSA has been secretly collecting private data on millions of Americans. Rep. King's appalling call for legal action against a reporter for doing his job is an …
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Leaks Are Vital For Democracy and the NSA Revelations Are the Quintessential Example Why
When looking back at the past decade, it’s hard to think of a constitutional scandal that wasn’t first brought to the public’s attention by a leak to the press. Bush’s NSA warrantless wiretapping program, black site prisons, torture, CIA drone strikes, and offensive cyberattacks are just some of the examples. …
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Searching for an Enemy in the Case of Bradley Manning
Tuesday marked the second day of the court martial of Bradley Manning, the Army intelligence analyst facing decades in prison for leaking over 700,000 government documents to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks. The morning saw the prosecution launch into the meat of their argument by calling numerous forensic experts as well …
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Why is Eric Holder In Charge of Oversight on Eric Holder's Surveillance of Journalists Policy?
President Obama delivered a much-anticipated speech yesterday on national security policy, where he unexpectedly touched on the recent AP and Fox News press freedom scandals. While he condemned leaks, he emphasized that “Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs,” and that he’s “troubled by the possibility …
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A Conspiracy To Commit Journalism: The Justice Dept's Dangerous New Argument Threatens Basic Reporting
Last night, the Washington Post reported on a little known leak case involving former State Department official Stephen Kim. In an alarming new extreme, the Justice Department and FBI argue there's "probable cause to believe" Fox News reporter James Rosen "has committed or is committing a violation of [the Espionage …
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Nation’s Leading Journalists: Leak Investigations Chilling Our Reporting, Hurting Public’s Right-To-Know
This morning on CBS Face the Nation, President and CEO of the Associated Press Gary Pruitt called the Justice Department’s seizure of AP’s call records “unconstitutional” and said it has already had a chilling effect on newsgathering. The chilling effect may end up being the lasting effect of this scandal: …
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White House Shield Bill Could Actually Make It Easier For the Government to Get Journalists' Sources
Under fire for the unprecedented Justice Department leak investigation that has engulfed the Associated Press, the White House yesterday asked the Senate to revive the stalled federal shield bill, which would aim to protect reporters from being forced to reveal their sources in many situations. A robust federal shield law …
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New Yorker Launches New Whistleblower Submission System, With Code Written by the Late Aaron Swartz
In an important announcement, the New Yorker has launched ‘Strongbox,’ a whistleblower submission system that aims to allow for anonymous leakers to digitally hand off important information to journalists. The underlying code, called 'Dead-Drop,' is an open-source project and was written by Internet pioneer and legendary coder Aaron Swartz, before …
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Justice Department Investigation of AP Part of Larger Pattern to Intimidate Sources and Reporters
As part of a new leak investigation, the Justice Department has secretly obtained the call records for twenty phone lines owned by the Assocated Press (AP), which could put sources for as many as one hundred reporters at risk. The AP called the move a "massive and unprecedented intrusion," saying …
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Correcting the Error-Riddled Wall Street Journal Column on WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning, and Press Freedom
Since the audio of whistleblower Bradley Manning's statement to the court leaked last week, it's becoming clear how much of a threat the government's "aiding the enemy" charge against Manning threatens all whistleblowers. Famed law professor Yochai Benkler and First Amendment scholar Floyd Abrams wrote an op-ed in the …
