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Jewish World Review May 18, 2012/ 26 Iyar, 5772 Is there a public right to know too much? By Dan K. Thomasson
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
How much information is too much, especially when there is a possibility that it may damage national security by alerting our enemies to the way we have thwarted their activities?
It's a simple question that not only has been around since a free press was enshrined in our Constitution but also one that has become increasingly distressful in a world that has gone communications crazy. For one who has spent his entire adult life defending the peoples' right to know, I am nevertheless conflicted by the free flow of data and methods to those who would do us harm.
There seem to be no restraints, self-imposed or otherwise, in what we in the media are willing to reveal. That became abundantly clear the other day when it was disclosed that a cooperative venture between our intelligence agencies and those of several of our allies had derailed an attempt by al-Qaida to bring down an American jet liner.
That success might have been legitimate news if details about how it was accomplished and specifically by whom hadn't followed the initial announcement within a relatively few hours.
That the Yemen-based terrorist network and its master bomb builder had been infiltrated by an undercover operative was, it seemed to many Americans including this one, a bit more than we needed to know for several reasons. Foremost, it clearly alerted the terrorists to the degree of their own vulnerability. It is not difficult to imagine that they would tighten their own security, making similar operations less likely to succeed.
This incident was just the latest in a constant bombardment of classified material that becomes public knowledge through an electronic system that knows no boundaries. If it is out there, it takes only nanoseconds for the world to know about it. In the case of the next generation of underwear explosives devised to bypass our airport security, it was the Associated Press that, after holding the information for a day or two, apparently couldn't resist the competitive pressures and outlined some details. Others expanded.
Recently I was going through some musty material and discovered a framed dispatch from Raymond Clapper, a renowned political writer, author and war correspondent. The dispatch from the Pacific theater was written on flimsy paper and entire lines had been excised neatly with a razor blade by military censors. It was, by the way, the last report he would file before he was killed. It is to me a great treasure for its historic value alone.
Beyond that it was the best example of how seriously the American press, for sure grumbling at times, took its responsibility to its homeland at war. The very thought that the enemy might extract any helpful information from their reporting was chilling. To bring order out of the chaos and help keep the public informed, Franklin Roosevelt had wisely named one of the most respected journalists of the 20th century, Elmer Davis, to head the Office of War Information. His experience in both print and broadcast made him a perfect choice.
No one would advocate that the media should not be diligent in determining what is and isn't a legitimate classification of material -- just judicious in the disclosure of information that anyone could see is sensitive.
Over the years, most of us have had an incident in which we were warned that something in our notebooks might result in harm to the national security generally and individuals specifically if printed. Most of us have been willing with certain assurances to give the benefit of the doubt to those making that argument. There have been times when we have been burned, but infrequently. There have been other times when government malfeasance and intemperance have been hidden behind claims of national security.
The landscape has been drastically altered, however. Any individual now can tell the universe what he knows almost before one can say "scoop." Everyone is a walking printing press or broadcast outlet and the perils and inaccuracies of this communications anarchy are enormous.
I don't need to know how we stopped the murder of more innocent Americans until it is safe to release the details.
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