The NSA and his accomplices killed whistleblower protection by monitoring any communication taking place. In doing so, they killed the free press. There is no longer any social function that is capable of challenging the lies of those in power.
The free press has been called the "fourth branch of government" alongside the legislative, executive and judicial branches of journalism free and independent investigation is necessary for checks and balances against the three other branches, to discover and disclose the abuse of power in all its forms. the underlying assumption is that the abuse of power leaking daylight, and would be disappearing in the sunlight the press is able to shine on it. so the free press is an anti-corruption office.
an essential mechanism for a free press to function is its ability to protect its sources. If you want to blow the whistle on bad or abusive behavior in the corridors of power, the idea goes, you should be able to do so without risk to your position. this way, the company counters violations of corruption and rights man by providing incentives to those who work in the government of the whistle on it - to document any and all abuses and deliver this documentation to the press. Therefore, a journalist has the right to protect their sources. In some countries, like Belgium or Sweden, a journalist even has a legal duty to protect their sources - they can go to jail for revealing once whistleblower protection was invoked
There is widely recognized that without strong. source protection, a free press can not function and fulfill its duty to the fourth branch of government, with an eye on the other three.
That's the theory, anyway.
However, the protection of sources has effectively ceased to function. With spy agencies - NSA and their accomplices - recording and logging nearly every conversation that takes place, there is no need to ask a reporter to their source. You just have to see that the journalist spoke, anywhere, on any channel - preferably a connection from the government department whose abuses are reported on. Whistleblower protection has been completely erased, and it happened while we were looking the other way.
Edward Snowden knew. He knew he could walk away with the crown jewels (and all the treasure room) of the NSA, but he also knew he would not be protected as source, regardless of what the laws say, whatever integrity popular journalists like Glenn Greenwald. Therefore, it was logical to keep the initiative and prove to be the source of the NSA files, before it was hunted -. And he probably understood very well how long the time he had to play this card to still keep the initiative
The price for the denunciation was essentially a life in exile, but also as a life a hero. Few people are willing to pay that price, and thus the incentive to disclose the abuse of power in a free press is now a mere myth legends of the past.
Compare that to the break-in to the FBI March 8, 1971, where documents were copied describing other illegal activities and spy on citizens. At the time, the documents can be sent anonymously and secretly - anonymously and secretly! . - Using something that everyone had access to: the regular postal service
Imagine that. Everyone has the ability to communicate untracked in secret and in private, and the ability of everyone and their brother - not to place requirements on the high levels of cryptographic technical competence - was used to uncover abuse outrageous power while preserving the anonymity of sources.
function of the press in society depends on its ability to shed light on abuses of power. This, in turn, completely and totally dependent on the ability of journalists to protect their sources. But this capacity has been eradicated, annihilated, and shot by a government that does not want to be held responsible for his actions. Consequently, there is more press able to fulfill its primary function.
With the press unable to obtain sources that contradict the official statements, the only thing the press is able to print and telling statements - true or false, just as often the as the other - made by the representatives of the government. He has lost its function as a disseminator of truth, in the face of government lies. Rather, it is now linked to a fate blindly repeating these lies.
We deserve better than that.
0 Komentar