Secrecy

Thanks for the Photo

by Sheldon Rampton — April 27, 2004 - 10:00pm

Bill Mitchell, whose son was a U.S. Army soldier killed in Iraq earlier this month, has written a letter to The Seattle Times thanking the newspaper for publishing the picture of flag-draped caskets that broke a Pentagon ban. Mitchell believes his son was in one of the caskets shown in the now-famous photo by Tami Silicio. "Hiding the death and destruction of this war does not make it easier on anyone except those who want to keep the truth away from the people," he wrote.

Main Source: 
Editor and Publisher, April 28, 2004

Fired for a Photo

by Sheldon Rampton — April 21, 2004 - 10:00pm

Tami Silicio, a Kuwait-based cargo worker whose photograph of flag-draped coffins of fallen U.S. soldiers was published in Sunday's edition of The Seattle Times, has been fired along with her husband.

Main Source: 
Seattle Times, April 22, 2004

The Sounds of Silence

by Diane Farsetta — April 19, 2004 - 10:00pm

"Americans seeking to know what President Bush said in his phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month went to the obvious place: the Kremlin," writes Dana Milbank. "It may come as a surprise to some that the Kremlin, symbol of secrecy and repression, has become more transparent that the White House, symbol of freedom and democracy...

Main Source: 
The Washington Post, April 20, 2004

Flag-Draped Coffins

by Sheldon Rampton — April 18, 2004 - 10:00pm

"Last week, photos of flag-draped coffins in Kuwait containing the bodies of Americans killed in Iraq surfaced on scattered Internet sites, such as the Drudge Report," reports Charles Geraci. "The photos were not credited and no major news organization would touch them. But Sunday, a similar image appeared on the front page of The Seattle Times. The picture arrived amid rising debate over the Bush administration's strict ban on media outlets taking photos of soldiers' coffins offloaded at U.S. military bases."

Main Source: 
Editor and Publisher, April 19, 2004

Open the Government

by Sheldon Rampton — April 17, 2004 - 9:07pm

A new coalition has formed to fight the expansion of government secrecy at all levels of government in the United States. "Open the Government" which bring together groups from the worlds of journalism, organized labor, the environmental movement and others interested in open government.

Main Source: 
http://openthegovernment.org

A Cost-Cost Analysis

by Diane Farsetta — April 16, 2004 - 10:00pm

"In a report analyzing the economics of protecting a threatened fish in the Pacific Northwest, the Bush administration this month deleted all references to possible monetary benefits" from conservation. The U.S.

Main Source: 
Washington Post, April 17, 2004

Vanunu Moves from Prison to House Arrest

by Sheldon Rampton — April 16, 2004 - 10:00pm

Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu is scheduled to be released soon from prison after serving an 18-year sentence for blowing the whistle on Israel's weapons of mass destruction. However, Israel is also forbidding him from communicating with foreigners or moving about without permission and has been told that any infraction of these rules will land him back in prison without trial.

Main Source: 
The Age (Australia), April 17, 2004

The Battle for Hearts and Minds

by Sheldon Rampton — April 12, 2004 - 10:00pm

"Impartial information is increasingly hard to come by in Iraq," reports Fiona O'Brien. "As fighting has intensified on the ground, U.S. authorities have stepped up a separate battle for public opinion, tightly controlling the flow of information to journalists whose ability to move freely in Iraq has been limited by increasing danger." Although U.S. military officials refuse to discuss Iraqi civilian casualties, other reports suggest that hundreds have died in the past week in Fallujah alone.

Main Source: 
Reuters, April 12, 2004; and Democracy Now! April 13, 2004

The Jefferson Muzzles

by Sheldon Rampton — April 12, 2004 - 10:00pm

The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression chooses April 13, the anniversary of Jefferson's birth, to issue its annual "Jefferson Muzzles" award to call attention to "those who in the past year forgot or disregarded Mr.

Main Source: 
Thomas Jefferson Center, April 13, 2004

Gagging Sir David

by Sheldon Rampton — March 7, 2004 - 11:00pm

Ivan Rogers, the principal private secretary to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, "tried to muzzle the Government's top scientific adviser after he warned that global warming was a more serious threat than international terrorism," report Steve Connor and Andrew Grice.

Main Source: 
Independent (UK), March 8, 2004
Syndicate content