Ridiculous Timing: Obama Administration Responds To Spying On AP By Pushing Journalist Shield Law That Wouldn't Matter

from the oh-come-off-it dept

There was one odd side note in all of the attention last week to the DOJ spying on the AP under questionable circumstances. Right after being confronted about it, the Obama administration released some talking points about how they support a reintroduction of a reporter's shield law. There have been various attempts to pass a special shield law for journalists for a few years now, though in the past it's been blocked each time. Also, we've been fairly skeptical about the whole process, because different politicians always seek to carve out key parties, whether it's bloggers or Wikileaks. Frankly, it's always seemed to us that a shield law should protect acts of journalism. That is, it should apply to specific situations, rather than specific people.

In the past, the Obama administration has claimed to support such a shield law, but with serious limitations, such as not having that law apply when the administration decides (by itself) that it's a matter that involves "significant" harm to national security. Given that Eric Holder has already argued that this case involved such a situation (even if the evidence suggests otherwise), it seems likely that any such shield law for journalists wouldn't have mattered in the AP case. There may have been some procedural differences, but the end result would have likely been pretty much the same.

But, really, using this story as a nail to hang their support for a shield law seems pretty ridiculous. "Oh, yeah, you caught us spying on reporters -- here's a bill that we want that wouldn't have stopped that, but if you're really concerned about a pretend level of privacy for journalists and their sources, it's something, sorta."
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: eric holder, journalism, president obama, reporters, shield law, surveillance


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 21 May 2013 @ 8:31pm

    Where can I get myself one of these invisible shields?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    out_of_the_blue, 21 May 2013 @ 8:35pm

    Window dressing to conceal shift from payoffs to coercion.

    My over-view: for decades now "journalists" have been paid off in a variety of ways -- actual cash for stories, access to "unnamed sources" for inside tips, or embeds to cover the wars, all so long as slanted for propaganda -- but NOW gov't is switching over to brute force, telling all are under surveillance and that even normal questions can get you charged for espionage.

    There's so obviously an agenda behind the recent spate of "revelations" that even National Review has caught on:

    http://www.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/348942/all-obamas-scandals-are-ultimately-about-i nformation-control-jim-geraghty

    "There’s really no reason for the press to suggest that the recent slew of scandals involving the Obama administration — Benghazi, the AP phone-record seizure, the snooping in James Rosen’s e-mail, the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups, and so on — are a confusing jumble. There is a very clear thread running through all of the administration’s actions:"

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Digdug (profile), 21 May 2013 @ 9:21pm

      Re: Window dressing to conceal shift from payoffs to coercion.

      Are you saying all journalists are soulless sell-outs or just some of them? If it's the latter I'll agree to that. If it's the former I'm afraid we part ways. Like any group of people, there's the bad ones, the good ones, and the ones in between just trying not to get stepped on.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Zakida Paul (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 1:19am

        Re: Re: Window dressing to conceal shift from payoffs to coercion.

        Come on, it's OOTB. All he does is post blanket attacks on groups of people.

        All rich people are criminals
        All corporations are corrupt
        All torrent users are pirates
        All Techdirt readers and writers are freetards

        I would expect nothing less than him believing all journalists are evil and soulless.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          The Groove Tiger (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 1:35pm

          Re: Re: Re: Window dressing to conceal shift from payoffs to coercion.

          To paraphrase out_of_the_blue himself: "your problem is that you refuse to generalize."

          Blue actually believes that generalizing gives us the right answer. Nuance is non-existent. You can't try things on a case by case basis. Rich people are bad because being rich makes them bad. Anyone who says "some rich people are bad" is an idiot for even considering the possibility of the existence of a non-bad rich person.

          It's the same for everything. He probably doesn't like food, or likes all food. Because "some food is bad" wouldn't be generalizing, and blue won't accept anything except blanket statements and generalizing.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Wally (profile), 21 May 2013 @ 9:47pm

      Re: Window dressing to conceal shift from payoffs to coercion.

      Blue, the Obama administration knew exactly what was going on...and did nothing.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:15am

        Re: Re: Window dressing to conceal shift from payoffs to coercion.

        I think that's basically what blue's saying.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Wally (profile), 21 May 2013 @ 9:41pm

    Mike, is there anything in that Press Shield bill that actually protects you as a journalist? I mean let's face it, you guys are getting the same treatment your constituents did in the Nixon years.

    This is left field off at first: As for your skepticism about the Obama Administration's sincerity, I don't blame you one bit because this same administration knew about the IRS scandal as early as this year's tax day.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Jay (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 5:22am

      Re:

      So did Congress in the McCarthyist Darrell Issa who was given a report before this thing blew up.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 23 May 2013 @ 3:57am

        Re: Re:

        Daryl Issa isn't a part of the IRS. You just mouthpieces a political conspiracy theory.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    GrrlGeek1972 (profile), 21 May 2013 @ 9:57pm

    Leakers and the government

    I firmly support the Press as a brake on the government. Having said that, I have serious concerns about this case, along with the Fox "News" reporter and his leak concerning the North Koreans.

    Both of these cases caused it to become known that we had human intelligence sources inside regimes/organizations that are REALLY REALLY hard to get inside sources to penetrate. North Korea and Al Queda are paranoid, insular, and really nasty. Getting a double agent into either of them is something I would consider important.

    So, while it is the nature of governments to cover their asses by over-classifying anything that would embarrass them, sometimes there really is a really good reason NOT to leak something.

    How do we draw the line?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 21 May 2013 @ 11:01pm

      Re: Leakers and the government

      Well, here's the line...when a member of the presidential administration messes up...that stuff should NEVER be classified. Scandal cover ups should never happen. As for your double agent scenario, that's not what the current administrator is going after said Reporter for...the administration is going after him for reporting something we had every right to know.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 12:54am

      Re: Leakers and the government

      USA has a 2-party system. Why not use its inherrent possibilities? When a case is ready for review, let the opposition party take a look at how they feel about it and decide if it is something problematic to national security.

      Since non of the parties are puritan in this field, it would of course still result in bypartisan screwups or opposition caused screwups being hidden, but it is less likely to be the case thab a current administrations faux pas.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:24am

      Re: Leakers and the government

      There are certain parties that think Randolph Hearst, with the aid of his vast news empire, manufactured the Spanish American War. Now that is something that Holder and crew could get their teeth into. Instead let's just beat down actual journalistic endevour.

      But the US of A has never really been into bringing those that cause an unjust war to bare for their actions. Hell, Bush and his entire crew were given a pass on that one, when it was pretty obvious that, with the help of bad intelligence, they manufactured the war in Iraq.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 21 May 2013 @ 9:59pm

    This administration has been doing it's best to control what appears in the news and how it is presented. There's a whole series of 'incidents' where White House news reporters were taken off the news staff for writing unflattering articles or asking difficult questions. There's another series of reports of reporters being badgered and cussed after an article went out in the news the next day. There's also been complaints about how little the White House news staff can actually access the president and ask questions. At the same time, the White House has been bypassing the traditional media for doing their own releases without the news media so that it is highly controlled to what is put before the public.

    The whole point of the above, as well as the use of the spy laws to prosecute whistle blowers, and the level of secrecy involved with FOI requests shows this administration is hell bent on hiding what ever they are doing. Even to the point of making legal theory of what they think the laws says, not what it reads to say, and then claiming that theory to be a national secret that can't be told.

    When was the last time you were expected to obey laws you don't know about and can't be told about?

    Something seriously stinks.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    corwin155 (profile), 21 May 2013 @ 10:06pm

    Classic misdirection
    something President Obama does very , very well

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Zakida Paul (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 1:23am

      Re:

      Not just Obama.

      Republicans too.
      Tories in the UK, and Labour, and Lib Dems, and UKIP.

      It is something that career politicians are very adept at.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:27am

      Re:

      Politicians do it very well. The left, the right, the middle. It is their bread and butter.

      And FYI, there is no real left, right, or middle, it's politicians all the way down.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    kenichi tanaka (profile), 21 May 2013 @ 10:13pm

    This is all due to the fact that morons re-elected a president who doesn't respect the constitution. Obama simply thinks that only government has constitutional rights and that if you're someone they don't like, you don't get constitutional rights.

    The U.S. Constitution has been under attack a lot more since Obama took office. I hate to say but when the Departmenty of Justice has been the single department that has been singling out everyone in this country, then there's a serious breakdown. And I seem to recall someone stating that Obama is very familiar with constitutional law.

    The man is a moron. I'm just waiting because things are reaching a boiling point where Americans aren't going to take these attacks lying down any longer. Our country is simply under attack by Democrats and Republicans.

    The constitution should never be interpreted by politicians. That's something that should be left up to the courts.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 21 May 2013 @ 11:08pm

      Re:

      Not just the DOJ...but the IRS as well.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Zakida Paul (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 1:25am

      Re:

      "The man is a moron."

      So was the only real competition. Romney is a Bush level moron.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 7:27am

        Re: Re:

        so the real question is: what are you going to do about it?

        Just repeating that 'the other choice' would've been worse is on the level of "Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos"

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:31am

        Re: Re:

        You're being kind to Romney. I believe he is a pea brain. Zippy the pinhead in Mormon Garb. Bush is a mental giant when stood up against His Royal High Romneyness.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    That Anonymous Coward (profile), 21 May 2013 @ 10:59pm

    Its ironic I think...
    How Wikileaks was treated was cheered by these same journalists... and now they are shocked when its done to them.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 21 May 2013 @ 11:06pm

      Re:

      Wikileaks actually did publish information that should have been classified. The FoxNews reporter in the article that was investigated was reporting on North Korea's missile launches....which means the Obama Administration is becoming just as paranoid as the Nixon Administration.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Kiwini, 21 May 2013 @ 11:20pm

    The President and his cronies tried the same sort of maneuvers with new sweeping firearms laws after Sandy Hook, none of which would have prevented that tragedy. Obama sees any crisis as a distraction and/or an opportunity to shove through his party's choices of legislation while it's momentarily empowered by emotion.


    "When was the last time you were expected to obey laws you don't know about and can't be told about?".

    Well, how about that infamous quote when Miz Pelosi told us that "we have to pass the law in order to find out what's IN the law".

    The more that we find out about the so-called Affordable Health Act, the more it becomes evident that we can't afford it.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Nora, 22 May 2013 @ 12:14am

    It is funny that a serial masturbator like you comments on matters of public interest. I am sure the Obama administration is highly interested. Though less interested than you at the prospect of stealing 3 minutes of porn to which you mah beat off before mommy comes home with groceries.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 4:32am

      Re:

      What is particularly sad about this attempted insult trolling...is that the commentor totally messed up in speaking English...,what the hell is "mah"?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 7:39am

      Re:

      Serial masturbating is not only normal, but healthy and suggested by many doctors.

      Please don't throw such comments around as insults, it is outdated and even possibly damaging to developing youths that may make the wrong connections early in life and end up with cancer of the testis thinking that regular masturbation is bad.

      ~~~~~ The more you know!~~~~~

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:34am

      Re:

      This is Nick, Nora. Get your ass home. Asta needs his meat pounded and you're the lucky girl, or guy.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Dirkmaster (profile), 22 May 2013 @ 6:32am

    "There may have been some procedural differences, but the end result would have likely been pretty much the same."

    There may have been some procedural differences, but the end result would have been EXACTLY the same.

    FTFY

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Greggore, 22 May 2013 @ 9:29am

    ???

    So I guess Nora has never masturbated two days in a row before. Lame insult, really this would have worked in 1965 when the majority of people were sexual morons, but I guess the insult shows your age.

    Some one needs a working sex toy I guess.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymopus Coward, 22 May 2013 @ 9:57am

    The Obama administration has done nothing but trample on the constitutional rights of the common people, who voted for him. I know, I voted for him.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.