Secrecy

Opening the Doors to Open Source Intelligence

by Sheldon Rampton — October 14, 2004 - 11:00pm

The official report of the 9/11 Commission includes a pitch for a new "open-source intelligence agency," which would focus on developing government intelligence information from unrestricted, non-secret sources.

Main Source: 
Online Journalism Review, October 15, 2004

EPA Gags Staff

by Laura Miller — September 21, 2004 - 11:00pm

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has directed staff to "refrain from answering" media calls in order to "prevent EPA management from being surprised by news coverage," according to an agency memo obtained by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

Main Source: 
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, September 22, 2004

Russia: Managing the Message by Drugging the Messenger

by Diane Farsetta — September 20, 2004 - 11:00pm

After terrorists besieged the Beslan school, a "semiofficial" document circulated among Russian networks demanded "media self-censorship ... 'Special operation' was prohibited, as was 'shahid' [suicide martyr] - a word that, along with the phrase 'war in Chechnya,' has already been prohibited on state TV for a year. ...

Main Source: 
Christian Science Monitor, September 21, 2004

Foyled Again, by Big Tobacco

by Diane Farsetta — September 12, 2004 - 11:00pm

In 1990, British lawyer Andrew Foyle wrote a memorandum to British American Tobacco regarding the company's "document retention policy." U.S. government lawyers contend the Foyle memo provides information on tobacco companies' actions "to destroy, suppress or otherwise shield from discovery ... internal research documents concerning smoking and health." The U.S.

Main Source: 
Wall Street Journal, September 13, 2004

Dusty Deception

by Laura Miller — September 11, 2004 - 11:00pm

"Up to 400,000 New Yorkers breathed in the most toxic polluting cloud ever recorded after the twin towers were brought down three years ago, but no proper effort has been made to find out how their health has been affected. [A] US government study provides the latest evidence of a systematic cover-up of the health toll from pollution after the 9/11 disaster, which doctors fear will cause more deaths than the attacks themselves," the Independent writes.

Main Source: 
The Independent, September 12, 2004

Secret Justice

by Sheldon Rampton — August 23, 2004 - 11:00pm

After nearly three years of confinement at Guantanamo Bay, Australian national David Hicks goes on trial for alleged terrorism before a U.S. military court.

Main Source: 
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, August 24, 2004

Censorious or Sensitive?

by Diane Farsetta — July 11, 2004 - 11:00pm

Clear Channel Communications refused to display a peace group's billboard ad in New York's Times Square during the Republican Convention. The ad features a red, white and blue bomb graphic with the words "Democracy Is Best Taught by Example, Not by War." The peace group says Clear Channel also rejected their alternative ad, in which a dove replaced the bomb graphic.

Main Source: 
New York Times, July 12, 2004

The Enemy Press

by Sheldon Rampton — June 28, 2004 - 12:42pm

After New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau wrote a story reporting that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had collected extensive information on antiwar demonstrators, FBI spokeswoman Cassandra Chandler sent around a memo urging agency officials to "please avoid providing information to this reporter," and the Justice Department revoked his press credentials.

Main Source: 
Washington Post, June 28, 2004

The CIA's Secret Failings

by Sheldon Rampton — June 15, 2004 - 11:00pm

"The Central Intelligence Agency has ruled that large portions of a report by the Senate Intelligence Committee that is highly critical of the agency includes material too sensitive to be released to the public," reports Douglas Jehl.

Main Source: 
New York Times, June 16, 2004
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