Media Against the First Amendment

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Douglas Lee: "One of the odors emanating from Washington, DC, these days is from journalists marking their territory. In recent weeks, two groups have publicly joined forces to exclude WikiLeaks from possible protection under the federal shield law."

Lucy Dalglish, Executive Director, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, at the 'War on Words' conference in Vienna, Austria, 10/05/09. (photo: Anna Blau/IPI)

Comments

+11 # Guest 2010-09-02 11:12

The Schumer-Feinstein effort to deny WikiLeaks the protection it deserves points up how investigative journalism places shallow politicians in deep fear. These are Democrats sounding like Republicans. And why not, since both sides are bribed by big campaign money from corporate millionaire, and both have much to hide. Journalism schools also are complicit, as they give degrees to majors in public relations, the fine art of making lies seem credible. - George Beres

+10 # Guest 2010-09-02 11:32

First they came for WikiLeaks. Next they came for RSN. Next, well, you know the rest.

+10 # Guest 2010-09-02 14:37

The media has devolved to little more than another arm of big business. They are clearly catering to the interests of the military industrial complex at the expense of journalistic integrity and the viability of the First Amendment.

+6 # Guest 2010-09-02 16:52

Feinstein is a multi-millionaire who would not remove herself on the armed services committee just because her hubby is a billionaire military contractor---lying liars lie again in order to screw Americans,

+5 # Guest 2010-09-02 17:57

This is one more baffling situation joining the Order of OMG!

Once again billions of dollars rule information reporting to the people not the integrity of journalism. Protecting the money through information is more important than information to protect the people by justly informing them openly

Editorials and opinions are a different aspect of publishing. I think that reporting and editorializing are becoming overcome by the confusion of the power of profits.

+5 # Guest 2010-09-02 18:27

So now the "Shield Law" becomes the "Censorship Law" in thin disguise and the corporate news media become more deeply entrenched in the Establishment Propaganda Machine. The freedoms I thought inviolable, like our First Amendment, are being chiseled away. Do we see a pattern here? I do not say "conspiracy," but the flow of events seems to be converging in a direction that goes against Freedom and Liberty. ?

+5 # Guest 2010-09-03 07:36

What good is a shield law that does not shield the kind of reporting that is most likely to need a shield. Wikileaks is a perfect example. Big Journalism is trying to craft a law to protect them but is throwing any upstart doing what they should be doing to the proverbial wolves. This is what Big Greed, Inc. has done to every aspect of government and law. Of the people, by the people,for the people has been deposed as a concept.

+3 # Guest 2010-09-03 19:38

Anyone that is trying to destroy or change our constitutional rights should be put in prison.

That is the only way the nation is going to clear up the oder these warmongering corporations and their lackey, the US GOP Congress are doing to destroy our democracy.

What we should also do is to punish financially all those crooks, liars and thieves in Congress and in the private sector for sending our sons and daughters on war made only for the rich!

+1 # Guest 2010-09-03 23:37

Too bad we have to rely on Wikileaks to get the truth. I used to think that the most central task of professional journalism was to "question the prevailing wisdom". Journalism was to be revelatory, analytical and the paragon of critical inquiry and thought. But corporatized journalism has so eroded actual "journalism" that it's expression really has become little more than PR for the oppressors.
Wikileaks has been vastly more compliant with the very heart of traditional journalism than the PR hacks that pass for journalist just about everywhere I encounter them in the media.

As far as I am concerned, Wikileaks is doing the job that American Journalism should have been doing all along...searching for the truth. That contemporary journalists would seek to have anything to do with weakening the First Amendment is a horrible shame. This shamelessness is the real story, not Wikileaks, and we should all feel betrayed. We are all threatened by this shamelessness.

+3 # Guest 2010-09-04 00:33

To remove any part of free speech shows our country is heading toward fascism, whether it be threats to the internet by Comcast and Verizon, or changing a shield law. I see our rights being stripped away little by little, until there will be none left for any of us, except for those in the ruling class.

+1 # Guest 2010-09-04 10:21

..which will create an upheaval in the future. The fact that Americans are not used to live under condition imposed by facism, the onslaught could be monsterous.

That is always the case when the ruling classes try to take control of our lives.

+1 # Guest 2010-09-07 08:25

Okay.I am always with the left wingers on everything and my father is a journalist so I know I'm gonna get my ass kicked by everyone for this but please hear me out:Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of a religion or prohibiting free exercise thereof,or abridging the freedom of speech or of the power of the press or the right of people to assemble and to petition the goverment for a redress of grievances.Examples of restrictions fall under the Alien and sedition act and fighting words(like using the N-word), hate speech and imminent lawless action (like putting people in danger,you know yelling fire in a crowded theater or maybe putting soldiers in danger publishing info our opponents shouldn't have.It is as dangerous as that idiot who wants to burn the Koran for 9/11 because he thinks Islam is a religion of the devil.His argument is about free speech as well. I disagree with both stances and uses of the amendment,I don't think that was what it was meant for.I await backlash.

+1 # Guest 2010-09-08 10:42

The only thing I think is important is:
Is the information "leaked" true? If so, they Wikileaks, or anyone else who tells the truth, should be protected!

0 # Guest 2010-09-08 14:12

What I meant was : Thank you, Bob, a nice voice of reason.

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