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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Jury convicts CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling on all nine counts including espionage
The following post first appeared at emptywheel.net. After having deliberated for slightly over 2 days, the jury today found Jeffrey Sterling guilty of all nine counts today. I’m not surprised the jury found Sterling guilty of some of the charges: of leaking Risen information on Merlin and the operation he …
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The Jeffrey Sterling CIA leak trial closing arguments: Who Is the hero, who Is the storyteller?
We're republishing Marcy Wheeler's coverage of the trial of CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling. The following post first appeared at ExposeFacts. “Jeffrey Sterling was the hero of Risen’s story,” prosecutor Eric Olshan finished his closing argument in the Jeffrey Sterling trial. “Don’t let him be the hero of this one.” …
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Government tries to implicate CIA whistleblower in leak case with calls to CIA’s house reporter
We're republishing Marcy Wheeler's coverage of the trial of CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling. The following post first appeared at ExposeFacts. The FBI Special Agent who investigated the Merlin leak, Ashley Hunt, testified on Wednesday. Much of the evidence she entered into the record pertained to the (remarkably limited) phone …
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Digital security lessons from the Barrett Brown case
During a hearing last month in the case of Barrett Brown — a jailed journalist known for his advocacy of the hacktivist collective Anonymous — the Justice Department (DOJ) entered into the court record 500 pages of evidence containing e-mails and chat logs that it claimed would demonstrate “relevant conduct” …
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In which the government's case against CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling descends into desperation
We're republishing Marcy Wheeler's coverage of the trial of CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling. The following post first appeared at ExposeFacts. Coming back into the courtroom after a break in the Jeffrey Sterling trial this afternoon, I heard an odd conversation. Apparently the government had unsuccessfully tried to get the …
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British spy agency intercepted emails of journalists, considers them 'threats' alongside terrorists and hackers
Newly disclosed documents from Edward Snowden, revealed today by the Guardian, show that the British spy agency (and close NSA partner) GCHQ intercepted emails from many of the US and UK’s most well-known news organizations, including the New York Times, Washington Post, BBC, Reuters, the Guardian, Le Monde, the …
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Leak trial of CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling: Merlin meets Curveball
We're republishing Marcy Wheeler's coverage of the trial of CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling. The following post first appeared at ExposeFacts. “Very often you get a curveball thrown at you.” When Bob S, a longtime CIA operations manager working on Weapons of Mass Destruction described the ambiguity common on CIA …
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Government calls three former and current CIA officers to testify in Jeffrey Sterling trial
We're republishing Marcy Wheeler's coverage of the trial of CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling. The following post first appeared at ExposeFacts. After opening arguments on the first day of the Jeffrey Sterling trial, the government called three former and current CIA officers to testify behind a screen and under partial …
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The government’s circumstantial case in the upcoming trial of CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling
We're republishing Marcy Wheeler's coverage of the trial of CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling. The following post first appeared at ExposeFacts. Today the government and the defense presented their opening arguments in the Jeffrey Sterling case. As laid out in this post, Sterling faces 10 charges — mostly charges …
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Government declares monopoly on right to call journalist James Risen as witness
We're republishing Marcy Wheeler's coverage of the trial of CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling. The following post first appeared at ExposeFacts. As Josh Gerstein first reported, the government has just asked the judge in the Jeffrey Sterling trial, Leonie Brinkema, to declare James Risen unavailable as a witness. After …
