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Abramson: National security reporting 'effectively being criminalized' under Obama
Politico
Dylan Byers
1/31/2014
Excerpt:
New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson said Thursday that national security reporting is "effectively being criminalized" under President Obama, citing his administration's aggressive pursuit of whistleblowers.
Speaking on a panel at Columbia University, Abramson said the crackdown "has had a profound effect on journalists who cover national security."
“This seems to be, if not a stated policy, a reality where journalism about sensitive national security issues, that I see as vitality in the public interest, is effectively being criminalized, and a real freeze is setting in to what had been up to this point a healthy discourse between sources and journalists," she said.
The Obama administration has overseen seven criminal leak investigations to date, more than every previous presidential administration combined.
Abramson told Al Jazeera America earlier this month that Obama's White House is the "most secretive White House" she's covered during her tenure as a political journalist.
"I would say it is the most secretive White House that I have ever been involved in covering, and that includes — I spent 22 years of my career in Washington and covered presidents from President Reagan on up through now, and I was Washington bureau chief of the Times during George W. Bush's first term," Abramson said.
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View the complete article at:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/...ed-182423.html
Politico
Dylan Byers
1/31/2014
Excerpt:
New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson said Thursday that national security reporting is "effectively being criminalized" under President Obama, citing his administration's aggressive pursuit of whistleblowers.
Speaking on a panel at Columbia University, Abramson said the crackdown "has had a profound effect on journalists who cover national security."
“This seems to be, if not a stated policy, a reality where journalism about sensitive national security issues, that I see as vitality in the public interest, is effectively being criminalized, and a real freeze is setting in to what had been up to this point a healthy discourse between sources and journalists," she said.
The Obama administration has overseen seven criminal leak investigations to date, more than every previous presidential administration combined.
Abramson told Al Jazeera America earlier this month that Obama's White House is the "most secretive White House" she's covered during her tenure as a political journalist.
"I would say it is the most secretive White House that I have ever been involved in covering, and that includes — I spent 22 years of my career in Washington and covered presidents from President Reagan on up through now, and I was Washington bureau chief of the Times during George W. Bush's first term," Abramson said.
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View the complete article at:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/...ed-182423.html