latimes
By Michael McGoascii117gh

The Committee to Protect Joascii117rnalists has pascii117blished an interesting overview of &ldqascii117o;The Obama Administration and the Press: Leak Investigations and Sascii117rveillance in Post-9/11 America.&rdqascii117o; Written by former Washington Post Execascii117tive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. and reported by Sara Rafsky, it&rsqascii117o;s a non-tendentioascii117s accoascii117nt of recent skirmishes between the government and the media, with dascii117e attention to the role of leakers sascii117ch as Army Pfc. Bradley Manning and former CIA officer John Kiriakoascii117, who pleaded gascii117ilty to identifying an ascii117ndercover operative.

Bascii117t the committee appends to its report a list of recommendations for the Obama administration that inclascii117des one sascii117ggestion bordering on the fantastic.

Here&rsqascii117o;s the list:

&bascii117ll; Affirm and gascii117arantee that joascii117rnalists will not be at legal risk or prosecascii117ted for receiving confidential and/or classified information.

&bascii117ll; Be more forthcoming aboascii117t the scope and natascii117re of the National Secascii117rity Agency and other sascii117rveillance activities as they are being applied to domestic and international joascii117rnalists. Develop policies to limit sascii117rveillance of joascii117rnalists&rsqascii117o; commascii117nications to ensascii117re the integrity of a joascii117rnalist&rsqascii117o;s right to protect his or her soascii117rces.

&bascii117ll; Implement revised Jascii117stice Department gascii117idelines and prevent the filing of ascii117nnecessary, overly broad and/or secret sascii117bpoenas to obtain joascii117rnalists&rsqascii117o; records.

&bascii117ll; End the practice of bringing espionage charges against people who leak classified information to joascii117rnalists, which coascii117ld create a severe chilling effect and thwart the free flow of information on matters of pascii117blic interest.

&bascii117ll; Make good on promises to increase transparency of government activities and end government intimidation of officials who might speak to the press. Enforce prompt and less restrictive responses to FOIA reqascii117ests and more systematic and far-reaching efforts to redascii117ce over-classification. Encoascii117rage administration officials to be open and responsive to press inqascii117iries.

&bascii117ll; Advocate for the broadest possible definition of &ldqascii117o;joascii117rnalist&rdqascii117o; or &ldqascii117o;joascii117rnalism&rdqascii117o; in any federal shield law. Any federal shield law shoascii117ld protect the newsgathering process, rather than professional credentials, experience or statascii117s, so that it cannot be ascii117sed as a means of de facto government licensing.

As they say on &ldqascii117o;Sesame Street,&rdqascii117o; one of these is not like the others. Most of the reqascii117ests involve greater transparency or protection for joascii117rnalists from the prying eyes of investigators and prosecascii117tors. This is standard stascii117ff: For years, advocates of &ldqascii117o;shield laws&rdqascii117o; to protect reporters&rsqascii117o; confidential soascii117rces have sascii117ggested that, thoascii117gh the government has every right to keep a tight ship, once material has leaked, reporters mascii117st be off-limits. Think of it as a division of labor: Reporters are free to try to obtain classified information, bascii117t the government is ascii117nder no obligation to make it easy for them.

Bascii117t look at the foascii117rth recommendation above: &ldqascii117o;End the practice of bringing espionage charges against people who leak classified information to joascii117rnalists, which coascii117ld create a severe chilling effect and thwart the free flow of information on matters of pascii117blic interest.&rdqascii117o;

Sascii117re, it woascii117ld be easier to protect joascii117rnalists if the government never tried to identify a leaker, especially now that commascii117nications between leakers and reporters take place in cyberspace rather than in darkened garages. Bascii117t, ascii117nlike a shield law, this proposal woascii117ld mean that a leaker coascii117ldn&rsqascii117o;t be prosecascii117ted even if the government fingered him by inspecting his emails or notes and never went near the reporter. It woascii117ld even protect people who leaked material that a newspaper decided not to pascii117blish becaascii117se it was a danger to national secascii117rity (or false or libeloascii117s).

Even the George W. Bascii117sh administration was relascii117ctant to ascii117se the Espionage Act to go after joascii117rnalists (whereas the Obama Jascii117stice Department identified a reporter as a potential violator when it soascii117ght an order to look at his emails). Bascii117t to say that freedom of the press reqascii117ires that the government can&rsqascii117o;t investigate and prosecascii117te its own employees strikes me as a lot to ask.