Revelations that the U.S. Department of Justice ignored its own guidelines and secretly seized emails from Associated Press and Fox News reporters (and labeled one reporter a co-conspirator in a national security breach) are more than this week’s scandal du jour. This is troubling news for journalists everywhere, including New Mexico.
In May, the Rio Grande Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists established a Freedom of Information Committee — a group formed by and for journalists to advocate for the rights and freedoms of SPJ members, as well as to offer resources.
“As we learn more about what’s been happening at the Justice Department, it’s important that reporters understand — and exercise — their First Amendment rights,” said SPJ-Rio Grande Board President Laura Paskus. “We also need to resist the temptation to become paranoid or worse, jaded, and instead step up efforts to gain access to public documents, important meetings — and new sources.”
Freedom of the press is essential to a healthy democracy. Reporters listen to policymakers, ask tough questions, attend meetings and hearings, and analyze government reports. But, we have an obligation to do more. And that means developing confidential sources. Really, it’s not a new issue.
The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics emphasizes independence. The code’s preamble correctly states a journalist’s duty is to seek truth and to “serve the public with thoroughness and honesty.”
Members of the Rio Grande Chapter of SPJ live by the code. Our credibility with viewers, listeners and readers depends on it.
During the president’s 2008 campaign, then-Sen. Barack Obama assured everyone his administration would be more open and transparent than the previous one. It hasn’t been. Too often, reporter’s questions are blocked or not allowed in the first place. There are fewer news conferences, Q&As, and even photo ops. Instead, the White House offers news organizations “official” images.
The ability of government to suppress information, intimidate reporters and control the message is further enhanced by news outlets’ diminishing resources. As cutbacks plague newsrooms, the ratio of better-paid, often better-equipped public relations workers to journalists has swelled from 1.2 to 1 in 1980 to 3.6 to 1 in 2008. The result, according to a recent Pew Research Center analysis, was a 2008 presidential campaign in which many beat reporters ended up “acting primarily as megaphones, rather than as investigators, of the assertions put forward by the candidates and other political partisans.”
This presents a serious problem not only for journalists, but for citizens everywhere, regardless of partisan affiliation. As government officials deny access, suppress information and work to control the narrative, journalists must rely increasingly on whistleblowers — the courageous citizens willing to risk their jobs and social status to ensure that the truth still does get out.
The net result is a chilling effect. What that means, in plain English, is that public officials whose taxpayer-funded jobs include providing information to the public become emboldened to instead suppress it — and that those brave whistleblowers turtle back into the shadows, afraid of reprisal for sharing the truth.
New Mexico is not immune to these trends. Reporters who cover federal, state and local government here are experiencing the kind of stonewalling and intimidation that follows any clampdown on the free flow of information. Reporters also face daily challenges when trying to access public meetings and public documents, and adherence to the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act and Open Meetings Act is inconsistent. The news of the DOJ’s actions against reporters only exacerbates the reluctance of both public officials and whistleblowers to volunteer information.
Last week, President Barack Obama said journalists should not be at “legal risk” for watchdogging the government or for receiving documents and information on government activities. We hope that’s true, and as a first step, we urge New Mexico’s U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich to support passage of the Free Flow of Information Act, which the Senate is scheduled to consider this week.
Protecting journalists’ rights protects the public’s ability to know what’s going on in the government. After all, it’s always been a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. If we protect reporters, we protect everyone.