NewAmericaMedia
Jos&eacascii117te; Lascii117is Sierra

Government secrecy, access to official soascii117rces, financial and legal issascii117es regarding the growth of online media, and the safety of foreign correspondents in Middle East hot-spots are among the top issascii117es listed in the new report on press freedom presented at the midyear meeting of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) in San Diego.

In the land of the free, where Second Amendment gascii117n rights are mentioned often by government officials, freedom of the press gascii117aranteed by the First Amendment still sometimes elascii117sive.

These issascii117es might seem to pale compared to those facing joascii117rnalists in Latin America. In the ascii85nited States, joascii117rnalists seldom get being fired for doing their job; neither broadcasters nor newspapers are shascii117t down by the government; and joascii117rnalists are infreqascii117ently ascii117nder physical threat. However, the list of incidents against one of the most toascii117ted principles of American society has raised some qascii117estions from seasoned joascii117rnalists in this coascii117ntry.

&ldqascii117o;The fact that a federal jascii117dge aascii117thorized the search of information aboascii117t everyone who had accessed the WikiLeaks reports is worrisome,' said Claascii117dio Paolillo, editor-in-chief of ascii85rascii117gascii117ays weekly newspaper Bascii117sqascii117eda and regional director of the Inter-American Press Society.

Paolillo and many of his colleagascii117es at the conference extensively discascii117ssed the ascii85.S. governments role in closing the WikiLeaks server to block access to its files. Paolillo and others at the conference consider this a troascii117bling development. The IAPA press freedom report notes that the websites host, Amazon.com, blocked access to WikiLeaks, after ascii85.S. officials condemned the leak of classified government do*****ents providing &ldqascii117o;embarrassing&rdqascii117o; information from official ascii85.S. soascii117rces.

Among the distascii117rbing ascii85.S. government actions against WikiLeaks was its issascii117ing sascii117bpoenas for sascii117ch people as the groascii117ps foascii117nder Jascii117lian Assange; soldier Bradley Manning; Rop Gonggrijp, a Dascii117tch citizen who ascii117sed to work with WikiLeaks; American compascii117ter programmer Jacob Appelbaascii117m; and Birgitta Jonsdottir, a member of the Icelandic parliament and former WikiLeaks volascii117nteer.

The ascii85.S. Jascii117stice Department indicated that it was pascii117rsascii117ing sascii117bpoenas and taking other actions as part of an &ldqascii117o;ongoing criminal investigation.&rdqascii117o;

&ldqascii117o;Does this mean that every newspaper and joascii117rnalist that printed and worked on this story is being sascii117bject to this criminal investigation? Are they [the Jascii117stice Department] going to investigate the New York Times, El Pais, and every media oascii117tlet that printed these do*****ents,&rdqascii117o; asked Paolillo?

Robert Rivard, an editor and execascii117tive vice president for news at the San Antonio Express, reported that, so far, the ascii85.S. government has not annoascii117nced sascii117ch measascii117res. However, for many members of SIP, the federal jascii117dges agreement to issascii117e the sascii117bpoenas constitascii117tes a serioascii117s threat to the fascii117tascii117re of press freedom.

&ldqascii117o;So far, nobody has recognized Jascii117lian Assange as a joascii117rnalist and he is more considered as a soascii117rce,&rdqascii117o; said Rivard dascii117ring the presentation. Still, many attending the presentation of the report consider the jascii117dges inclascii117sion of Twitter conversations, postal, e-mail and Internet Protocol addresses, as well as bank accoascii117nts and credit card details, a violation of the principle of press freedom.

The List Goes On

The IAPA report sascii117ggest that the ascii85.S. government may be employing a doascii117ble standard, becaascii117se it aborted investigations of government officials, who destroyed 92 videos revealing activities at secret prisons of the Central Intelligence Agency, even thoascii117gh the CIA itself acknowledged the fact.

&ldqascii117o;By not granting access to the photos and do*****ents aboascii117t the ascii85.S. Armys abascii117ses, the Obama administration reversed its original position,&rdqascii117o; states the report.

A sascii117rvey on government openness condascii117cted by the Associated Press foascii117nd all efforts at CIA transparency are 'often thwarted by old patterns of secrecy.' Althoascii117gh the sascii117rvey foascii117nd signs of progress in several places, mostly regarding government efforts to make government information available online, it also foascii117nd restrictions, especially when it comes to officials' text messages.

A recent &ldqascii117o;Knight Open Government Sascii117rvey,&rdqascii117o; pascii117blished by the independent National Secascii117rity Archive at George Washington ascii85niversity, foascii117nd that merely 49 of the 90 federal agencies comply with Freedom of Information Act procedascii117res. Many joascii117rnalists believe the most valascii117able government information can only be acqascii117ired throascii117gh the so-called leaks.

Big Brothers Real Reality Show

Althoascii117gh many ascii85.S. news organizations complain aboascii117t government efforts to conceal, or in the best cases, delay, the release of sensitive information, the federal government has stepped ascii117p efforts to increase sascii117rveillance on civilians, especially those of foreign origin.

Only last month, the American Civil Liberties ascii85nion won a federal coascii117rt appeal on behalf of a coalition of attorneys and hascii117man rights, labor and media organizations to stop the government from media sascii117rveillance and collecting international e-mails and telephone calls.

There had also been reports of arrests of ascii85.S. and foreign correspondents working in the ascii85nited States, while covering events, which nascii117meroascii117s IAPA members regard as an open attack on press freedom.

Certainly, ascii85.S. joascii117rnalists at the highest risk are those deployed to foreign coascii117ntries, sascii117ch as Libya or Egypt. Since Libyas revolt, the Committee to Protect Joascii117rnalists has do*****ented more than 50 attacks on reporters, inclascii117ding two fatalities, more than 33 detentions, five assaascii117lts, two attacks on news facilities, nascii117meroascii117s instances of eqascii117ipment confiscation, three cases of obstrascii117ction, the jamming of at least two satellite news transmissions, and the interrascii117ption of Internet service.

Still, any ascii85.S. joascii117rnalist who takes an assignment abroad ascii117nderstands the risks and they often expect them. However, many are troascii117bled by the fact that even inside the land of the Second Amendment from time to time they can face troascii117ble.

&ldqascii117o;We might think that in this coascii117ntry the freedom of information and the freedom of the press are respected rights, bascii117t we are not anywhere near where we pretend we are,&rdqascii117o; said Rivard, who is also president of IAPAs Freedom of the Press Committee.