Secrecy

Homefront Confidential

by Sheldon Rampton — March 20, 2003 - 2:07am

The Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press has issued an updated report showing "how the war on terrorism affects access to information and the public's right to know." The report includes sections on "covering the war," "military tribunals," "domestic coverage," and "the USA PATRIOT Act." The World Press Institute has just issued a similar report.

Main Source: 
http://www.rcfp.org/homefrontconfidential/

Media Banned from Free Speech Award

by Sheldon Rampton — March 19, 2003 - 11:00pm

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia banned broadcast media from his speech on March 19 at an appearance where he received an award for supporting free speech. "That was one of the criteria that he had for acceptance," said James Foster, executive director of Cleveland's City Club, which gave Scalia its "Citadel of Free Speech Award."

Main Source: 
Associated Press, March 20, 2003

Secretive U.S. "Information" Office Back

by Sheldon Rampton — March 9, 2003 - 11:00pm

"A Cold War-era office with a shadowy name and a colorful history of exposing Soviet deceptions is back in business, this time watching Iraq," reports Connie Cass. "The Counter-Disinformation/Misinformation Team's moniker is more impressive than its budget. It's a crew of two toiling in anonymity at the State Department, writing reports they are prohibited by law from disseminating to the U.S. public. The operation has challenged some fantastic claims over the years -- a U.S.

Main Source: 
Associated Press, March 10, 2003

News Conference "Scripted," Reporters Silenced

by Laura Miller — March 6, 2003 - 11:00pm

Russell Mokhiber, editor of Corporate Crime Reporter and author of a regular Commondreams.org feature "Ari & I: White House Briefings," was at George W. Bush's first primetime news conference in over a year and a half. He says, "Last night's [press conference] might have been the most controlled Presidential news conference in recent memory.

Main Source: 
Institute for Public Accuracy, March 7, 2003; Democracy Now! March 7, 2003

Star Witness on Iraq Said Weapons Were Destroyed

by Laura Miller — February 26, 2003 - 11:00pm

"On February 24, Newsweek broke what may be the biggest story of the Iraq crisis," FAIR writes. "In a revelation that 'raises questions about whether the WMD [weapons of mass destruction] stockpiles attributed to Iraq still exist,' the magazine's issue dated March 3 reported that the Iraqi weapons chief who defected from the regime in 1995 told U.N. inspectors that Iraq had destroyed its entire stockpile of chemical and biological weapons and banned missiles, as Iraq claims." The CIA denied the Newsweek story.

Main Source: 
Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, February 27, 2003

TV Networks Censor Anti-War Ads

by John Stauber — February 23, 2003 - 11:00pm

"The political battle over the Bush administration's planned war in Iraq is filtering down to impact the U.S. media and advertising industry. A growing number of groups opposed to the war allege cable networks are censoring citizens' political views by refusing to accept placements of their anti-war TV ads. Some peace groups are thwarting the networks' rejection by buying local time in major cities for the same anti-war ads.

Main Source: 
Ad Age, February 24, 2003

Disappeared in Latin America

by Sheldon Rampton — February 17, 2003 - 1:35pm

Where's the money in Argentina? What does U.S. oil cost in Colombia? The Resource Center of the Americas has prepared a list of 10 "important stories about Latin America that major news media distorted or ignored in 2002."

Main Source: 
http://www.Americas.org/News/Features/200301_Desaparecidos/20030101_10Venezuela....

Patriot Act II

by Laura Miller — February 13, 2003 - 9:00pm

One sequel that's not receiving much media attention is the "Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003," a follow up to the "USA Patriot Act of 2001." The Center for Public Integrity obtained a copy of the draft legislation that had been secretly prepared by the Justice Department.

Main Source: 
http://www.public-i.org/dtaweb/report.asp?ReportID=506&L1=10&L2=10&L3=0&L4=0&L5=...

Behind the Homefront

by Sheldon Rampton — February 4, 2003 - 9:23am

The Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press has established a weblog to cover freedom of information and other issues related to the new Department of Homeland Security, which came into existence officially on Jan. 24. "Behind the Homefront" is a "daily chronicle of news in homeland security and military operations affecting newsgathering, access to information and the public's right to know."

Main Source: 
http://www.rcfp.org/behindthehomefront/

Copyrighting Freedom of Expression

by Sheldon Rampton — January 26, 2003 - 11:00pm

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 has given corporations increased power to censor speech that they don't like. It severely curtails the "fair use" doctrine which allows artists, writers and scholars to use fragments of copyrighted works without permission for the purposes of education, criticism and parody.

Main Source: 
AlterNet, January 27, 2003
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