Government prohibits Stars and Stripes journalists from accessing Wikileaks

[Newsjock]

Source: Stars and Stripes
By Mark J. Prendergast, Stars and Stripes ombudsman

The editorial independence of Stars and Stripes and its readers’ right to news free of censorship are being threatened by an overly broad and misdirected response to the Wikileaks debacle.

... “Access to any classified information hosted on non-DoD systems from any government-owned system is expressly prohibited. Additionally, all DMA personnel are reminded that access to classified or sensitive information from any personally owned or publicly available computers also constitutes unauthorized access and is reportable to security personnel.”

I asked if that applied to the journalists at Stars and Stripes. I expected the answer to be no.

To my chagrin, the reply was yes, per provisions and recommendations of a recent White House memo instructing federal agencies on how to tighten data security.

... Putting reporters and editors under strictures intended for keepers of the nation’s secrets contradicts the fundamental purpose of journalism: to seek information, not avoid it.

Read more: http://www.stripes.com/blogs/ombudsman/ombudsman-1.8931/now-comes-don-t-read-don-t-tell-1.129107

[Angry Dragon]

1. This country has become the very thing that they say we fight

I wonder where the soul of this country has gone.......

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of the press."

Apparently, the government has added: "...unless it embarrasses the government".