In a sprawling indictment of the Obama Administration’s approach to press freedom and leakers of classified information, the Committee to Protect Journalists has accused the President of aggressively waging war against transparency. The Committeereleased a comprehensive report on press freedom in the United States.
The CPJ found that the current administration has become increasingly evasive with the press and not forthcoming. The CPJ reported that government officials even suspected of discussion classified information with reports were subject to intense investigation.
In total, six government employee including Edward Snowden have been accused of leaking classified information to the press since 2009. In one case, the CPJ found reporters had their phone records and emailed secretly seized, and another with a reporter forced to testify or face jail time. The CPJ also released recommendations to the white house in a letter. They asked that journalists not be at legal risk for receiving any confidential classified information, and they want the broadest possible definition of journalist in any federal shield law.
What do you think of the report? Is the Obama administration a closed one? What more can be done to protect journalists’ and their ability to gather information?
Guest:
Sandy Rowe, Chairman, Committee to Protect Journalists