"Transpaqueness"

In October, the Committee to Protect Journalists (or CPJ) released a special report that covers many of the same elements that we have been discussing in class.  The topic covered centered around the Obama administration and its transparency, or lack thereof, with government operations.  Ironically, this is the same administration that ran on a platform of openness in government.  Much to the detriment of journalists, there was a disconnect somewhere along the line between campaign promises and actions after election.  While this is not a unique characteristic of the Obama administration, the CPJ report charges that the current leadership in Washington has taken secrecy to a new level.  Since the passing of the 1917 Espionage Act, three prosecutions had been pursued prior to the Obama administration.  Since 2008, there have been a total of 8 prosecutions, with others pending.  While it is still up for debate as to whether or not the prosecutions are warranted, the sheer volume of prosecutions is undeniable.  One of the outcomes of such a "crackdown" on informational leaks has been the creation of an informational desert, or a general lack of available information.  According to the report, journalists who used to operate in the "gray" areas between classified and unclassified information are now afraid to say anything at all for fear of arrest, and journalists are lacking quality sources as they can be subpoenaed if politically convenient.  This behavior stands as a danger to our democratic system and deserves to be monitored closely.

The report, written by Downie and reported by Rafsky, details selected aspects of what they consider to be the hostile and disingenuous treatment of journalists who cover political, national security, or other sensitive issues.  The report discusses the methodologies used by the White House to prevent the disclosure of information, as well as the administration's practice of deploying "its own media to evade scrutiny by the press."  As we have been exposed to in our  learning modules, this tactic combines misdirection of information and spin, avoiding the issues that it doesn't want to cover and focusing on the ones that cast their administration in a positive light.  As New York Times  reporter Scott Shane put it, "I think we have a real problem."  Through the creation of content the Obama administration has been able to control the flow of information by drowning out negative voices.  This action can be considered a new twist on the media's gatekeeping function (see Graber Ch.4) and has served it fairly well.  In a Politico report veteran journalists Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen posit

“One authentically new technique pioneered by the Obama White House is government creation of content—photos of the president, videos of White House officials, blog posts written by Obama aides—which can then be instantly released to the masses through social media. And they are obsessed with taking advantage of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and every other social media forum, not just for campaigning, but governing. They are more disciplined about cracking down on staff that leak, or reporters who write things they don’t like.”

The situation that is developing due to government aggressiveness does nothing to further our democracy, and therefore should be faced with increased scrutiny.  I am a strong supporter that the general public is not prepared for a complete and total transparent government, but where to draw the lines should be constantly reviewed and evaluated by Congress, the Supreme Court, and the citizens.  Unfortunately, if the media is not able to operate effectively due to government threats (either real or perceived) then the citizens will have very limited access to the knowledge necessary for informed decision making, leading our nation towards a self defeating conclusion.  If we are to continue the American tradition of prying investigative journalism, muckraking, and holding those in power accountable, then there has to be a change in administrative attitude towards journalism.