A U.S. senator earned an entry in his FBI file in 1949 for making a speech calling for transparency about how many nuclear bombs we possessed and how many were in production. It was only on May 3 of this year that we learned the true size of our nuclear arsenal. -db
Secrecy News
Commentary
September 2, 2010
[...]
Citing Wikileaks secretive mode of operation, Gawker announced a new website, Wikileakileaks.org, to provide the public details of the organization’s operation. -db
ValleyWag
Commentary
August 31, 2010
Secret-sharing website Wikileaks.org’s tagline is “We open governments.” But the organization itself is about as open as North Korea. That’s why we’ve launched Wikileakileaks.org: your source for Wikileaks-related secrets, documents and rumors!
Wikileaks [...]
The California Newspaper Publisher Association argues that a California Assembly bill aimed at limiting Hollywood paparazzi would hamper journalists and photojournalists in transit to emergency scenes or breaking news locations by criminalizing driving infractions. -db
The California Newspaper Publisher Association
Commentary
August 27, 2010
Assembly Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) recently amended her bill to rein in “out [...]
The Obama administration has taken an aggressive stance toward individuals leaking secret information to the media. -db
The New York Times
August 27, 2010
By Scott Shane
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal grand jury in Washington has indicted a State Department analyst suspected of disclosing top-secret information about North Korea to Fox News, the third time the Obama administration [...]
The CIA has downplayed WikiLeaks’ latest release, a secret CIA analysis showing the extent of U.S. presence as an exporter of terrorism. -db
Washington Post
August 26, 2010
By Ellen Nakashima
The United States has long been an exporter of terrorism, according to a secret CIA analysis released Wednesday by the Web site WikiLeaks. And if that phenomenon [...]
The full U.S. Court of Appeals in New York refused to review a decision by the court’s three-judge panel requiring the Federal Reserve Board to identify banks that may have failed without the federal bailout. -db
Bloomberg News
August 23, 2010
Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) — An appeals court refused to reconsider a decision compelling the Federal Reserve Board [...]
Deluged by data, the federal government looks to virtualized storage to create a single pool of storage capacity controlled from a central console making it easier to retrieve data. -db
NextGov
August 23, 2010
By Carolyn Duffy Marsan
The federal government is awash in data. And it’s expanding at rates faster than chief information officers can count. No [...]
Amid accusations that they are more concerned with leaks than with the safety of children, the Los Angeles County supervisors ordered an investigation of what they termed “inappropriate disclosure of confidential child welfare information” to the Los Angeles Times. -db
Los Angeles Times
August 18, 2010
By Rong-Gong Lin II
In a contentious 4-1 vote, Los Angeles County [...]
Steven Aftergood of Secrecy News argues that WikiLeaks disclosure of the Afghan War Diary has had
the unfortunate consequence of increasing public support for the present system of document classification. -db
Secrecy News
Commentary
August 16, 2010
By Steven Aftergood
Unauthorized disclosures of classified information (“leaks”) often play an important role in the proper functioning of American democracy. They [...]
With release of the Afghan War Diary, WikiLeaks has established new ground in the struggle between the public’s right-to-know and the government’s desire for secrecy, but it is hugely ironic that WikiLeaks itself operates in secrecy, refusing to release details on its modus operandi. -db
New Scientist
Editorial
August 16, 2010
By David Cohen
“QUICK, you’ve got to come [...]
Under the Freedom of Information Act, the Army must release information to a veteran studying the effectiveness of body armor in preventing wounds to the torso area or cite specific exemptions for withholding the information. -db
Courthouse News Service
August 16, 2010
By Joe Celentino
(CN) – A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ordered the Army’s medical [...]
The California Court of Appeal ordered a Superior Court judge to reverse her ban barring the Los Angeles Times from publishing the courtroom photos of a murder suspect. -db
Los Angeles Times
August 9, 2010
By Andrew Blankstein
The California Court of Appeal ordered a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Monday to abandon her order barring the Los [...]
The Cincinnati Enquirer argues that the federal shield law now in Congress, while providing for national security and fair trials, will strengthen the media in its quest to hold government and other powerful entities accountability and make it less likely that sources go to “fringe entities” such as WikiLeaks to protect their anonymity. -db
Cincinnati Enquirer
Editorial
August [...]
A judge approved a written request to photograph a murder suspect but when reminded in court about a prior order banning photography ordered the photographer not to publish his photos. -db
Los Angeles Times
August 5, 2010
By Andrew Blankstein
A judge issued an unusual order Wednesday in which she told a newspaper photographer not to publish pictures [...]
A judge took the unusual and possibly unconstitutional step of barring a Los Angeles Times photographer from publishing images she allowed him to snap at a hearing for a man charged with murdering a Hollywood family.
News
August 5, 2010
By The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES— Lawyers for the Times planned [...]
A new law requires the Office of Management and Budget to publish contractor integrity information online. -db
NextGov
August 4, 2010
By Aliya Sternstein
A bill President Obama recently signed requires the Office of Management and Budget to disclose on a public website contractor integrity information housed in a new vendor performance database, reversing a recent [...]
In reaction to Wikileaks’ publication of Afghanistan war documents, Senators Charles Schumer and Dianne Feinstein are amending the proposed federal shield law to exclude websites that publish leaked government documents without editorial comment. -db
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
August 4, 2010
By Cristina Abello
Legislators are amending the federal shield bill, which was passed by [...]
Intelligence officials, past and present, are raising concerns that the Wikileaks.org revelations could endanger U.S. counterterror networks in the Afghan region and damage information-sharing with U.S. allies.
July 27, 2010
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — People in Afghanistan or Pakistan who have worked with American intelligence agents or the military against the Taliban or al-Qaida may be at [...]
A District of Columbia Superior Court judge switched course and ruled the National Law Journal could not publish information in a fee dispute even after it obtained the information through public court documents before the judge decided to seal them. -db
Local judge blocks law journal from publishing information obtained legally
http://www.rcfp.org/newsitems/index.php?i=11501
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of [...]
An editorial in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat calls for the Sonoma County employee association to release information on pensioners receiving over $100,000 a year. In a recent case in Sacramento County, a judge ruled that under California’s Brown Act Sacramento County could not keep pension information from the public. -db
Pubilc agency pensions: Editorial reaffirms [...]
While the Obama administration downplays the importance of the classified field reports on the Afghanistan war released by WikiLeaks July 25, WikiLeaks founder Julian Asange says the reports will increase transparency on the war and strengthen democracy and governance. -db
WikiLeaks claims release of classified Afghan war documents beneficial
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/world/26wiki.html
The New York Times
July 25, 2010
By Eric Schmitt
WikiLeaks.org, [...]
Cnet News says the time has come for the Supreme Court to join the 21st Century and allow live streaming video of oral arguments. -db
Cnet News
Commentary
June 30, 2010
By Declan McCullagh
The idea of opening up U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments to cameras received a welcome endorsement this week from Elena Kagan, who has been nominated to [...]
The Security and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed documents from two whistle blowers including e-mails with reporters, a move that circumvents their usual policy of not subpoenaing reporters directly. -db
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
June 28, 2010
By Ellen Biltz
At least one government agency is using subpoenas to target e-mail between journalists and potential sources [...]
With talk radio and Facebook, political candidates no longer have to rely on television to get their message across. -db
The New York Times
June 28, 2010
By Brian Stelter
RENO — There is a game in Nevada called “Where’s Sharron Angle?” that the press is tired of playing.
Ms. Angle, a Nevada Senate candidate and Tea Party darling, has [...]
Secrecy News’ Steven Aftergood argues that there is good reason for the Knight Foundation’s refusal to fund WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks, he says, has failed to increase government openness and accountability. -db
Secrecy News
June 28, 2010
By Steven Aftergood
In the past week, both the Washington Post and the New York Times have referred to WikiLeaks.org, the web site that [...]
While opening the door to a new trial for former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, in a 6-3 vote the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Skilling’s argument that pre-trial publicity made a free trial impossible. -db
The New York Times
June 24, 2010
By Adam Liptak
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ruling for two prominent corporate executives in prison for fraud, the [...]
In striving to regain his old post, former Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is routinely churning out fake news clips with the feel of actual news reports. -db
Washington Post
June 22, 2010
By John Wagner
As viewers watch scenes from a Little League baseball game, a familiar face appears to tell them that former governor Robert [...]
First Amendment lawyers say that police should have never acceded to Apple’s pressure to search a Gizmodo.com editor’s house for evidence related to an alleged theft of an iPhone 4G prototype. They say the affadavit requesting the search did not disclose that the editor was a journalist nor mention the Federal Privacy Protection Act or [...]
To proceed with their case, journalists attempting to sue Joe Arpaio for civil rights violations must show that the sheriff was directly involved in issuing an order for their arrest for printing a grand jury subpoena. -db
Legal Pad Blog
Commentary
June 21, 2010
By Dan Levine
Remember when Joe Arpaio — the immigrant-hating Arizona sheriff who makes his inmates [...]
A superior court judge ruled that University of California police had improperly searched a journalist’s camera during a protest at the UC chancellor’s home in December. The judge ordered all photos returned to the journalist. -db
San Jose Mercury News
June 21, 2010
By Matt Krupnick
An Alameda County judge has ruled UC Berkeley police improperly searched a journalist’s [...]
California State University, Sanislaus finally agreed to open its June 25 fundraiser featuring Sarah Palin to the media. Officials have refused to release documents concerning the fee Palin will receive for appearing. -db
Washington Post
June 19 2010
By Robin Hindery
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — After months of requests from reporters, a California university has agreed to allow [...]
Weighing the family’s right to privacy to the public’s right to know, a Superior Court judge released most of the records sought by the media pertaining to last year’s murder of an eight-year-old girl. The judge withheld autopsy photos. -db
Tracy Press
Jun 14, 2010
By Jaclyn Hirsch
STOCKTON, Calif. — Judge Linda Lofthus decided this afternoon to unseal [...]
Saying “secrecy is the fertilizer of sexual abuse,” an attorney urged a county judge to open 20,000 pages of evidence of sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts of America. -db
Courthouse News Service
June 15, 2010
By Travis Sanford
PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) – “Secrecy is the fertilizer of sexual abuse!” attorney Kelly Clark thundered in his opening remarks, urging [...]
OMB Watch, a nonprofit devoted to promoting government transparency and accountability, says that lack of information from the government and BP has hampered the public’s ability to deal with the spill. In particular, BP has not revealed the chemical makeup of the dispersants so that scientists and others can determine their possible long term consequences. -db
OMB [...]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has launched GeoPlatform.gov, a data-rich website to enable the pubic to track the spread of the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico and find out other crucial information. -db
NextGov
June 14, 2010
By Bob Brewin
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launched a slick and data-rich website on Monday that the public [...]
A New York Times reporter says that the U.S. government has relinquished control of information to BP who is blocking its free flow to protect its bottom line. -db
The New York Times
Commentary
June 13, 2010
By David Carr
The three journalists crept along in a boat captained by James Ledet in a bayou near Golden Meadow, La., [...]
The EPA announced a new policy that promises greater scrutiny of industry claims of trade secret in their attempts to conceal threats to health and safety. BP is currently using the trade secret claim to block access to chemical information related to the oil spill. -db
OMB Watch
Analysis
June 2, 2010
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has [...]
An early participant in the non-profit news business, Jim Barnett, thinks there is a strong future for non-profits in undertaking news projects without sure financial returns. He thinks that groups such as Human Rights Watch, the American Red Cross and the Council on Foreign Relations will step up to help fill the vacuum left by [...]
Amid several instances in which the media has been limited in covering the gulf oil spill, authorities say they are coping as best they can with the floods of reporters. They deny that BP is calling the shots and say they are allowing access to the story with the constraints of safety and protecting the [...]
Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas has retired after she was videotaped saying Israelis should “get the hell out of Palestine” and go instead to Germany, Poland or the United States. -db
msnbc.com
June 7, 2010
Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas is retiring in the wake of controversial comments she made about Israel.
Hearst News Service, for which [...]
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