Chill the Press
24th March 2008
Good news, for a change, although the Post, like most newspapers, is trying to circle the wagons.
WITH A 20-page opinion handed down March 7, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton sent a shudder through journalists and their would-be sources.
And that’s a shudder that needs to happen. “Journalists” like to think of themselves as somehow observers standing outside of the process, ready to record and “tell the story” but not get involved. This is, of course, hogwash. They are involved, and the stories they tell are seen through the warped lens of people committed to “activism”, whether beneficial or not. The basic problem is that “journalists” are biased, but don’t realize it, and are unwilling to admit it because it would mean admitting that they live a lie.
Judge Walton’s opinion removes any protection that government news sources have come to rely on.
Including the ones that reveal legitimate secrets, which no editorial discussion of the matter has deigned to address. One gets the impression, from listening to the drive-by media, that there is no such thing as a legitimate secret. Those who cannot see the obvious implications for personal privacy are mentally deficient.
If allowed to stand, it would seriously impair the ability of journalists not only to expose malfeasance and corruption but also to provide thorough coverage of institutions such as the Justice Department.
In other words, they won’t be able to be as nosy as they’d like to be. Hint: Whenever a “journalist” utters the phrase “the public’s right to know”, what they actually mean is “my right to stick my nose into your business and put it on the front page”. They don’t really give a shit about “the public”, because if they did they wouldn’t go around undermining the public good with their inflammatory reporting.