Gold9472
06-01-2006, 09:33 AM
The task of journalism
http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyODkmZmdi ZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY5NDIyNTAmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZU VFeXkxNA==
By MARY ELLEN SCHOONMAKER
Thursday, June 1, 2006
"Journalism arose as a protest against illegitimate authority in the name of a wider social contract." -- James Carey professor, Columbia University School of Journalism
THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION seems to be mounting a concerted effort to threaten the press in the wake of articles revealing secret anti-terror programs -- warrantless wiretapping, foreign prisons for terror suspects and the massive collection of the nation's phone records.
Last month, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez said he believes certain federal laws can be used to prosecute the publication of leaked information -- laws, by the way, that have never been used against journalists. Last week at a hearing, several Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee went even further.
Rep. Rick Renzi of Arizona said criminal charges should be brought against journalists who reveal classified information.
Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan said journalists should not be permitted to decide on their own what classified information to publish. He also asked why newspapers that report on government secrets aren't like Martha Stewart, who "went to jail for having the benefit of insider information."
First Amendment experts say these are largely empty threats and that prosecuting reporters would require a level of exposing the nation to "imminent danger" that these articles clearly don't meet.
The greater danger is that the public, hearing the claim that these articles threaten our national security, will agree that the press should be reined in. According to the administration's spin, it's almost a matter of taking sides: the White House on one side, doing whatever is necessary to protect the American people from terrorism, and the press on the other, trying to sell papers and win prizes with "insider information."
In other words, when it comes to national security or energy policy or the war in Iraq, the press should mind its business and let the government do its job. How many Americans, post 9/11, would say they agree with that statement?
Be careful. That's how things work in dictatorships and repressive regimes. That's not how they are supposed to work here.
Democracy
James Carey, a professor at Columbia University's School of Journalism until his death last week, once said that journalism and democracy are "names for the same thing."
That same thing is the premise that the nation's power rests with the people and that government is accountable to them. The best way, in fact the only way, to guarantee that accountability is a free press. Journalism, for all its flaws and problems, is the essential running commentary, the public transcript, of our life as a nation.
Carey was well-known within journalism circles as a brilliant scholar but even more as a beloved teacher, someone who inspired students to appreciate the honor and the responsibility of their calling. Some of those who mourned him last week recalled a speech he gave to a group of new students at Columbia a decade ago.
Here are some excerpts from that speech, which is even more timely now:
"Journalism takes its name from the French word for 'day'. It is our day book, our collective diary, which records our common life...
"Journalism arose as a protest against illegitimate authority in the name of a wider social contract, in the name of the formation of a genuine public life and a genuine public opinion. . .
"For journalism and for us, [the] purpose is the development and enhancement of public life, a common life which we can all share as citizens. The role journalism has played in constituting such a life is one of the noblest chapters in our history and one of the most fervent hopes for our future.
"The struggle of people against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting. To make experience memorable so it won't be lost and forgotten is the task of journalism."
Bullying the press
This administration would like us to forget many things and to remain unaware of many others, as it seeks to consolidate its power. The press has uncovered some of those things and has been trivialized and bullied as a result.
But journalists are not publishing "insider information" that must not be shared with the public. They are reporting on the actions of government that the public must know about and debate if we are to continue calling ourselves a democracy.
The events of Sept. 11, 2001, were so traumatic that they sent the Bush administration into an unending war against terrorism, one fought along a frighteningly rigid and secretive path.
Journalism at its best is telling that story.
Mary Ellen Schoonmaker is a Record editorial writer and columnist. Contact her at schoonmaker@northjersey.com. Send comments about this column to oped@northjersey.com.
http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyODkmZmdi ZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY5NDIyNTAmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZU VFeXkxNA==
By MARY ELLEN SCHOONMAKER
Thursday, June 1, 2006
"Journalism arose as a protest against illegitimate authority in the name of a wider social contract." -- James Carey professor, Columbia University School of Journalism
THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION seems to be mounting a concerted effort to threaten the press in the wake of articles revealing secret anti-terror programs -- warrantless wiretapping, foreign prisons for terror suspects and the massive collection of the nation's phone records.
Last month, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez said he believes certain federal laws can be used to prosecute the publication of leaked information -- laws, by the way, that have never been used against journalists. Last week at a hearing, several Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee went even further.
Rep. Rick Renzi of Arizona said criminal charges should be brought against journalists who reveal classified information.
Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan said journalists should not be permitted to decide on their own what classified information to publish. He also asked why newspapers that report on government secrets aren't like Martha Stewart, who "went to jail for having the benefit of insider information."
First Amendment experts say these are largely empty threats and that prosecuting reporters would require a level of exposing the nation to "imminent danger" that these articles clearly don't meet.
The greater danger is that the public, hearing the claim that these articles threaten our national security, will agree that the press should be reined in. According to the administration's spin, it's almost a matter of taking sides: the White House on one side, doing whatever is necessary to protect the American people from terrorism, and the press on the other, trying to sell papers and win prizes with "insider information."
In other words, when it comes to national security or energy policy or the war in Iraq, the press should mind its business and let the government do its job. How many Americans, post 9/11, would say they agree with that statement?
Be careful. That's how things work in dictatorships and repressive regimes. That's not how they are supposed to work here.
Democracy
James Carey, a professor at Columbia University's School of Journalism until his death last week, once said that journalism and democracy are "names for the same thing."
That same thing is the premise that the nation's power rests with the people and that government is accountable to them. The best way, in fact the only way, to guarantee that accountability is a free press. Journalism, for all its flaws and problems, is the essential running commentary, the public transcript, of our life as a nation.
Carey was well-known within journalism circles as a brilliant scholar but even more as a beloved teacher, someone who inspired students to appreciate the honor and the responsibility of their calling. Some of those who mourned him last week recalled a speech he gave to a group of new students at Columbia a decade ago.
Here are some excerpts from that speech, which is even more timely now:
"Journalism takes its name from the French word for 'day'. It is our day book, our collective diary, which records our common life...
"Journalism arose as a protest against illegitimate authority in the name of a wider social contract, in the name of the formation of a genuine public life and a genuine public opinion. . .
"For journalism and for us, [the] purpose is the development and enhancement of public life, a common life which we can all share as citizens. The role journalism has played in constituting such a life is one of the noblest chapters in our history and one of the most fervent hopes for our future.
"The struggle of people against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting. To make experience memorable so it won't be lost and forgotten is the task of journalism."
Bullying the press
This administration would like us to forget many things and to remain unaware of many others, as it seeks to consolidate its power. The press has uncovered some of those things and has been trivialized and bullied as a result.
But journalists are not publishing "insider information" that must not be shared with the public. They are reporting on the actions of government that the public must know about and debate if we are to continue calling ourselves a democracy.
The events of Sept. 11, 2001, were so traumatic that they sent the Bush administration into an unending war against terrorism, one fought along a frighteningly rigid and secretive path.
Journalism at its best is telling that story.
Mary Ellen Schoonmaker is a Record editorial writer and columnist. Contact her at schoonmaker@northjersey.com. Send comments about this column to oped@northjersey.com.