Journalists critical of federal interference in coverage of national security issues

The Obama administration’s mass surveillance is a threat to journalism according to a 15 page letter sent to an administration study group on intelligence and communication. Scholars, journalists and the Columbia Journalism School and the MIT Center for Civic Media sent the letter that shows how current activities of the National Security Agency contradict Justice Department policy published in July after the Associated Press debacle. (Tow Center for Digital Journalism, October 10, 2013, by Tow Center)

The media coalition led by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press urged that the review committee work for more transparency and insure the government respects the work of journalists in covering the news. The letter said, “Currently, there is no protection for newsgathering in FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]. Nor is there a sufficient understanding in the public domain of all the ways in which FISA procedures can entangle the work of reporters and their relationships with sources.” (RCFOP Press Release, October 11, 2013)

An editorial in The Guardian, October 13, 2013, asks the question, “Who should oversee the activities of intelligence agencies who have the ability to pry into millions of lives?”