Posted on 11/16/2005 1:08:27 PM PST by Libloather
Probes may have 'chilling effect' on media
By Nick Madigan
Sun Reporter
Originally published November 16, 2005
The investigations into anonymous leaks in the nation's capital could confound the symbiotic relationship between government officials and reporters, according to observers of the interaction between the press and the politicians they cover.
The probes, first in the Valerie Plame case and now in The Washington Post's story about covert CIA prisons, have prompted questions about the benefits and pitfalls of leaking national security secrets, and whether the prospect of investigations into their provenance will mean the leaks could dry up.
"What if the government starts enforcing the espionage statute whenever there's a leak?" asked Steve Roberts, a former New York Times reporter who teaches media and public policy issues at George Washington University. "It's going to have a tremendously chilling effect on this interplay between sources and reporters."
In the Post case, congressional leaders have called for a criminal investigation into the source of the leak that led to a Nov. 2 story by reporter Dana Priest about the existence of covert CIA detention centers in various parts of the world.
"There's no conceivable way the public would have learned the information in that story if it had been shadowed by the threat that anyone revealing that information would be charged with a crime," Roberts said.
Critics of the Bush administration say that the effort to plug leaks in the government's national security apparatus is part of a longstanding campaign to shape public opinion. At its most extreme, the critics say, the effort culminated in a push for war that used faulty intelligence.
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
Cool.
Oh good, another "chilling effect" story. We always get these when things get hot.
Euphemism alert: A better translation for this process would be BREAKING THE LAW.
Terrific! What recent history has clearly proven is that keeping information away from the press is a Good Thing. ...especially classified information. ...especially in time of war.
Of course, we should ignore the fact that once the public knows about it, the enemy knows about it too...
The CIA is a Sieve. Close it down.
I'd like these media traitors, who think of nothing or divulging our nation's secrets to the enemy, to be chilled permanently.
*cough*
The presstitutes never call it what it really is; criminal disclosure of information which puts the entire nation at risk. The MSM is the enemy. The sooner they and their co-conspirator "sources" are convicted as the traitors they are, the better the country and the world will be.
What a terrible thing it would be to enforce the law! I'm sorry, but I have no sympathy for any government official who leaks to the press. I also have no sympathy for any reporter who has to take the choice of revealing a confidential source of a government secret or going to jail. Let them go to jail. Let them stay there until the hell freezes over or until they talk, whichever comes first. I am so sick of the culture of leaks in Washington that I can hardly keep my food down.
Gosh, what would we do without "anonymous sources"?
Once again, the reporter gets his opinion into the piece by resorting to "the critics say." Most DC-based reporters are out and out treasonous, pure and simple.
...but only if it could be done without the continuing waste of our precious energy resources.
< ]B^)
might make for some Pflaming changes in how information flows into the media...
Of course, the libs refuse to believe that's a problem, and the media is so devoid of commonsense that they don't see anything wrong with it either, but it's still a crime and should be punished to the full extent of the law.
Oh, I see. When they're putting the screws to someone in the Bush admin, it's "patriotic" and "justice." When the tables are turned, it's "chilling."
uh-oh, the RATS have drug out the dredded "chilling effect" argument again.
Yeah. Sounds like a novel plan. Enforce the frickin' laws!
Consider the source of this crap, The Baltimore Sun"...for crying out loud.
Rule 1, If the Sun is against it, it's good for America.
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