Journalists are often harrassed when they dig into things the powerful want to leave burried.
https://sharylattkisson.com/new-update-attkisson-v-doj-and-f...
Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
31–40 of 191 posts
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#32As a European, this is something that could very well make my government resign because it would be illegal. Like, crazy illegal. Is this legal in the US or is the current US administration in hot water?
This is probably only true in Germany. > Is this legal in the US or is the current US administration in hot water? Keeping immigrants in indefinite detention probably isn't legal in the US, doesn't mean it's not going to continue. > current US administration in hot water? The FBI is working their way through jailing senior members of the Trump campaign.
Really? Name a single member of the trump administration who is in jail, muchless senior. Why make stuff up?
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is the standard wartime playbook for restricting freedom. It's completely incompatible with functioning democracy.
The United States in still engaged in 2 declared wars. One of which has it's theater defined as "wherever al-qeada and it's associates are" (paraphrase). So what's wrong with the wartime playbook? We're at war.
You're not allowed to use those special war powers to suppress normal democratic dissent. This is exactly fascism.
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#34The journalists were colluding with a foreign government - of course they should be spied on and investigated! Their families also!
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#35Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. At a minimum.
Do you think they can appeal to a class action lawsuit here?
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Bush and Obama Administrations were extraordinarily aggressive in expanding US espionage action domestically. Obama was infamously aggressive in targeting the press. The notion that they'd do all of that and not begin tracking journalists in a comprehensive fashion was an improbable scenario. The first leaks by Snowden should have prompted the press to assume it. It's why so many of the major media outlets have g…
Is there evidence this specific tracking started under a previous administration? Or must we first ensure that we deflect blame from the current administration, notably characterised by ongoing violent rhetoric about journalists, including a surprising effort to ignore the government sanctioned murder of a journalist by an "ally".
It’s not the same but comes to mind in the discussion: “embedded reporters”.
They have been around a long time, arguably including World War Two, but were taken to some pretty extreme levels in the ‘03 Gulf War.
The cosy relationship is corrupting and completely unhelpful, with state control and propaganda pushed by supposedly independent journalists who are contracted to say-no-evil.
https://www.google.co.nz/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/me...
https://www.google.co.nz/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/media/200...
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
this is normal. journalists are hot targets to either spoof or buy to snoop around as they often have more access than regular civilians to high profile targets.... counter-intelligence and counter-espionage. people should realise that forgein powers demotivate them against their own government, and now these demotivated people are the ones complaining about this kind of shit, preventing their own government from fun…
There's a lot of implicit trust in this view, it's the same type of trust people around the world have for their governments, that doesn't mean they are incorruptible or well-meaning. This entirely is for allowing the government to control information, and thus control people.
Sadly, most people are subservient to authority, propaganda, epaulets, etc.
Einstein quote on people:
>Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions that differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.
It's more than just a trust in rulers. I agree with Einstein. It's a complete subservience to them.
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think he's suggesting blind fealty so much as avoidance of the opposite - blind opposition. Good individuals (or governments) can do very bad things. And bad individuals (or governments) can do very good things. When one immediately jumps to one conclusion or another, it leaves one open to being trivially manipulated. In political jargon - being made into a useful idiot [1]. In this case it was particularly b…
Please apply this to the case at hand. The case at hand is not about supporting or opposing the caravan, or its investigation. It is about how journalists reporting on it are marked for special treatment at the US border. I fail to see any complex pro/con political issue there. Free press is a constitutional right for a reason.
The first critical point is to classify the caravan. This is something you have to step outside of politics for, for a minute. This caravan had already illegally broken past the border between Guatemala and Mexico. [1] There's every reason to believe they planned to attempt similar behavior at the US border. This is the definition of criminal conspiracy.
In this case it would likely have also been a politically destabilizing event in the US. You would have had far right vigilantes work to 'apprehend' the trespassing individuals which likely would spark 'anti-vigilante' action from far left individuals. Violence would have been inevitable due to the fact you have loonies on both ends meeting up with emotions flaring high. This could have been an organic action, but it could also have been driven by actors who would benefit from such instability.
In any case it would be absolutely remiss for the government to not investigate the funding, composition, and other aspects of the caravan. And on this front the journalists were/are not only witnesses but witnesses with video, photographic, and audio evidence as well as first person accounts. Like the article states, "[The investigators] said that I [journalist] was on the ground and they’re not, which I thought was really interesting.". The really important question is whether the investigation has gone from investigation to intimidation, which would be an issue.
So is the government doing their due diligence, or are they intimidating journalists? Perhaps it's even a bit of both. But I don't think this article is enough evidence to really determine one way or the other and so I think the wisest course of action would be to await further information.
[1] - https://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-mexico-m...
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Bush and Obama Administrations were extraordinarily aggressive in expanding US espionage action domestically. Obama was infamously aggressive in targeting the press. The notion that they'd do all of that and not begin tracking journalists in a comprehensive fashion was an improbable scenario. The first leaks by Snowden should have prompted the press to assume it. It's why so many of the major media outlets have g…
Is there evidence this specific tracking started under a previous administration? Or must we first ensure that we deflect blame from the current administration, notably characterised by ongoing violent rhetoric about journalists, including a surprising effort to ignore the government sanctioned murder of a journalist by an "ally".
Obama spied on Sharyl Atkinson is pretty well known.
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#40Not only tracking them, but putting flags on their passports and interrogating them at the border: “They asked about the new caravan and if word had gotten out about how difficult it is to seek asylum in the U.S.,” Drehsler said. “Then before I left, the female agent asked if I rented or owned my home.” This sounds much more like a political intimidation operation than serving a national security purpose.
It's terrifying. Free speech should not be infringed upon.
This is obviously happening more and more. High profile cases like journalists and activists caught up in association with Snowden, like Greenwald, Poitras and Lavabit's founder... Are probably known to most here. But I wonder if most are aware even a journalist covering the dakota pipeline protests was detained by the US government(1).
1-https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/02/business/media/canadian-j...