Totalitarian governments have long known, if you control the press, you control the country.
The main watch dog that protects citizens from the evil
deeds and intent of its government is a free press. A free press can expose the
blunders, malfeasance and criminality of a government that would rather keep
that information from the public view. When the freedom of the press is being
assaulted, the very foundation of a free society is being eroded.
When nations fall to a coup; the first move is the seizing of
broadcast stations and other media, so that the new rulers can control the
information given to the public.
China
censors the information its citizens are allowed to hear, like North Korea and
other totalitarian states, if you write or speak out against the
government, you can disappear.
In Mexico,
drug cartels, which have a large influence on the country, kill reporters and
editors if they write on their illegal activity. The result of this intimidation has meant
many news agencies and journalists refuse to report on the drug violence. See reporters deaths
Americas
press is under an insidious assault by the government using the guise of
protecting “national security.”
Shocking revelations of seizing phone records and other privileged
communications of the Associated Press by Eric Holders Justice Department, sparked
alarm last week by even stalwart Democrats like Congressman Jerrold Nadler of New York, who said:
“I am quite concerned by the appearance of overreach by the
Justice Department in its pursuit of records from the Associated Press.” In a key part of his statement he finished up
with: We must also examine the use of the Espionage Act to criminalize
whistle blowers and leaks. While the government has a legitimate need for
secrecy – especially to protect the lives of operatives abroad – the aggressive
use of this powerful law in recent years needs to be reviewed to ensure that
its use is appropriate and not a hindrance to journalistic freedom or the free
flow of ideas and information.”
But Nadler’s statement was made before revelations that Fox News
had its communications under surveillance and its Washington correspondent, James Rosen, was
the target of a criminal probe involving leaks of national security. It is
reported that communications records of other Fox News employees were
investigated as well.
Even CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson, who has been
aggressively looking into the Benghazi
scandal, stated her work and home computers seem to have been compromised. Attkisson
suggested “there could be some relationship between these things and what’s happened
to James Rosen.” Read more in World Net Daily
Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC's “Morning Joe” said: The
Justice Department's secret seizure of phone records from a top Fox News
reporter is "disturbing" and suggests the agency is "out of
control." He went on to say: "It
would be one thing if you're monitoring MSNBC's number … but you talk about the
Fox News bureau, that's what makes it so damning for this White House."
Congressman Ted Poe (R) Texas, member of a group of bi
partisan Congress members who are pushing for greater press protection, said:
“We all agree that free press is extremely important for a
democracy, especially America’s
democracy,” Poe said at a press conference. “This May should probably be
renamed ‘May Intimidation Month’ because of what has happened in the month of
May.”
“First, earlier this month, we learned that the Department
of Justice secretly launched an investigation to find out who leaked
information to the press that was justified by saying it was taken in the
interest of national security. But it was nothing short of, in my opinion, a massive intimidation fishing expedition
where the government seized phone records of journalists.” Read more about this in Politico
Both left and right agree, this intrusion by the government
into our free press needs to be checked now, before they checkmate our free
press and put us on the slippery slope of many totalitarian states.
