CPJ Report: the Obama Administration and Press Freedoms 289
dryriver writes "Committee To Protect Journalists reports: U.S. President Barack Obama came into office pledging open government, but he has fallen short of his promise. Journalists and transparency advocates say the White House curbs routine disclosure of information and deploys its own media to evade scrutiny by the press. Aggressive prosecution of leakers of classified information and broad electronic surveillance programs deter government sources from speaking to journalists. In the Obama administration's Washington, government officials are increasingly afraid to talk to the press. Those suspected of discussing with reporters anything that the government has classified as secret are subject to investigation, including lie-detector tests and scrutiny of their telephone and e-mail records. An 'Insider Threat Program' being implemented in every government department requires all federal employees to help prevent unauthorized disclosures of information by monitoring the behavior of their colleagues. Six government employees, plus two contractors including Edward Snowden, have been subjects of felony criminal prosecutions since 2009 under the 1917 Espionage Act, accused of leaking classified information to the press—compared with a total of three such prosecutions in all previous U.S. administrations. Still more criminal investigations into leaks are under way. Reporters' phone logs and e-mails were secretly subpoenaed and seized by the Justice Department in two of the investigations, and a Fox News reporter was accused in an affidavit for one of those subpoenas of being 'an aider, abettor and/or conspirator' of an indicted leak defendant, exposing him to possible prosecution for doing his job as a journalist. In another leak case, a New York Times reporter has been ordered to testify against a defendant or go to jail."
Hope and Change (Score:2, Interesting)
How's it working for you these days? There were plenty of people who were screaming that this stuff would be happening. Nobody listened. Maybe next time you will, but I doubt it. The American public is too busy watching American Idol to give a crap about anything important anymore.
Well, what did you expect? (Score:4, Interesting)
Obama got the Nobel prize, not the Sakharov prize.
Re: "I'll sue you.......in ENGLAND" (Score:4, Interesting)
The press has turned on the administration (Score:2, Interesting)
Sure they like to flout that Obama has conducted more interviews than any president before him. But Obama intentionally selects outlets where he can evade scrutiny. His "interviews" have largely been on entertainment shows. When preparing for the precious few press interviews, Obama selects journalists who are least likely to challenge him. The administration exploits social media and prepared videos/press releases to evade scrutiny. At his "press conferences" in the WH he abruptly leaves the podium after delivering his prepared statements to ignore journalists trying to confront him with questions. WH spokesman Jay Carney shows an evasive disposition that has resulted in increasing confrontation from an increasingly skeptical and frustrated press.
Obama has admitted that he intends to punish his political enemies. Intimidation, harassment, and retaliation are tools frequently deployed [washingtontimes.com], witness the IRS singling out conservative groups and other federal agencies targetting businesses and individuals who have either criticized the administration or contributed funding to opposition movements. Dr. Ben Carson was endured his first ever IRS audit [investors.com] less than four months after delivering a speech critical of the administration, with a visibly steaming Obama sitting two seats away from him. The Rev Billy Graham was audited after he endorsed Mitt Romney during the 2012 campaign.
Obama had the mainstream press in his pocket until they learned of his betrayal when the DoJ ordered the search of phone records of Associated Press organizations. Their eyes were finally opened to the manipulations of the administration and they have turned on him. Not all of the news outlets have followed suit but they are changing their stripes one by one.
Obama (and Hillary) were disciples of Saul Alinsky [christiantelegraph.com], whose "Rules for Radicals" book encourages ad hominem tactics, deception, harassment, any means necessary to accomplish an agenda. Indeed, Saul Alinsky dedicated his book to Satan.
For those of you who voted for a new hope, you have no idea of the deception that was handed to you.