The Justice Department’s recent actions to tap telephone records of reporters has raised a lot of concern about freedom of the press.
These last several weeks have been tough ones for the president. There have been three major criticisms of administration policies. The first involved the responses of the State Department to the Benghazi Consulate attack. The second is the Internal Revenue Service apparent targeting of tea party groups for IRS audits. Now we have learned that the U.S. Justice Department secretly obtained telephone records of the reporters and staff of the Associated Press news organization.
The Justice Department has tapped into the AP telephone lines on outgoing calls and personal phone lines of individual reporters and its staff in three major cities, as well as the AP Press Bureau’s gallery in the House of Representatives, according to an AP article.
The government does not generally state why private phone taping is done. After the situation was uncovered, the government said information leaks were made from government sources that were not in the best interests of our nation’s security. As a result, many questions remain unanswered in the public’s eyes, like who authorized the secret wire tapping, the subpoenas issued and at what level did the tracking authority come from in government?
What is lacking is complete transparency from our government sources. The USA Patriot Act was passed after the terrorist airplane attacks of 9/11. Under the act, all activities thought to be detrimental to the safety and security of our nation could be monitored. The actions were not supposed to be political or to punish political opponents, but critics on both sides of the aisle have worried about the potential misuse of activities. Democrats were upset during the Bush administration. Republicans are upset now.
The fact is that we are all at risk if the press is at risk. A free society depends upon a free press. Whether or not particular leaks are responsible or irresponsible often awaits the judgment of history. We are glad that the leaks about Watergate took place, and most of us deplored Wikileaks.
What is clear, though, is that the matter must be fully explained to the American public, so that our trust in our government and in our president will not be further diminished. Right now, confidence in our government is very low, although most people still do not think that President Obama was personally involved in this. We need assurances, though.
Some people say that they are concerned that the Justice Department actions could signal future monitoring of how you earn a living, what you do and where you go, buy, sell, eat and even what you read. Yet when the government checked on the background of the Boston Marathon bombers, few people complained. Most supported the action.
We are being tracked right now, with more government regulations and controls that people may not want in the future, even though many people post revealing, private information about themselves on websites all the time.
We should worry, though, when the press is targeted. A free press ensures that we can learn the truth about our government, and not just be subjected to propaganda, as happens in many non-democratic societies. We need the press to stand up for our citizen rights.
We all need to feel that our confidential information cannot be spied on, unless there are powerful reasons for doing so. Journalists and whistleblowers serve a major role in keeping us aware of what our government, at all levels, does not always share with us.
Journalists aren’t the only persons at risk, if secret wiretapping continues. Smart people believe actions must be taken where the public’s safety is at risk, but the public should be informed of the truth by full transparency of facts, not political self-interest.
The administration is facing questions on several serious issues. It should respond with transparency on any crisis, as it occurs. Building trust is what a good leader must do. The president has defended the wiretapping, but has said he did not know about and doesn’t support the IRS auditing of certain political groups. As our leader, he needs to explain why journalists were spied on, himself, rather than having his press people or others provide cover. And he needs to show that those behind the IRS problems will be axed. As our leader, he has the responsibility to reassure us that the government is not targeting supposed enemies.
— Bernard Featherman is a business columnist for the Journal Tribune and former president of the Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce.
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