Covering Security & Liberty
IJJ: Security & Liberty Fellowships
Tim Porter, Nov. 7, 2004
1,000’s of Stories
What Is Journalism For?
• “The primary purpose of
journalism is to provide
citizens with the information
they need to be free and selfgoverning.”
– The Elements of Journalism, Bill
Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel
The Elements of Journalism
• Journalism's first
obligation is to the
truth.
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• Its first loyalty is to
its citizens.
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Its essence is a discipline of
verification.
Its practitioners must maintain
an independence from those
they cover.
It must serve as an independent
monitor of power.
It must provide a forum for
public criticism and compromise.
It must strive to make the
significant interesting and
relevant.
It must keep the news
comprehensive and
proportional.
Its practitioners must be allowed
to exercise their personal
conscience.
Obligation to the Truth
• Outsourcing the Pentagon
To find the answers, the Center began in
early 2004 to investigate the patterns of
Defense Department contracting. Our
prime source was the Pentagon's
own procurement databases—
public information that had been
posted for years on an obscure Defense
Department Web site.
-- Larry Makinson, Center for Public Integrity,
http://www.publicintegrity.org/pns/default.aspx
Obligation to the Truth
Obligation to the Truth
• “U.S. to Free Hamdi, Send Him
Home”
– “Yaser Esam Hamdi, who was held in
solitary confinement as an ‘enemy
combatant’ for nearly three years and
never charged with a crime, will be
released from custody. … The U.S. military
captured Hamdi with pro-Taliban forces in
Afghanistan in 2001. He was sent to
Guantanamo Bay. ... He has been held in
military brigs ever since.”
• Washington Post, Sept. 23, 2004
Loyalty to the Citizens
Loyalty to the Citizens
Loyalty to the Citizens
• “The Constitution is not a ‘suicide pact’ … but
not every sacrifice of freedom buys more
security. … Yes, this is a war against terrorism.
But more than that, it is a war in defense of
liberty and the rule of law. If we surrender our
freedom and our values out of fear, we are
running up the white flag of defeat.”
– Editorial, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dec. 30, 2003
Pre-9/11
• Government restrictions on information began to
increase even before Sept. 11, 2001
• Driver's Privacy Protection Act in 1994
– Information released only for law enforcement and insurance
coverage
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, April
2001
– Journalists who routinely called hospitals to get the status of a
patient may be unable to get such information in the future.
-- Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Post-9/11
• Government restrictions after Sept. 11, 2001
– Patriot Act, 2001
– Community Protection from Chemical Terrorism Act, 2002
• Restricts access to chemical plants’ risk management plans
– Department of Homeland Security, 2003
• Legislation criminalizes leaks of unclassified “critical infrastructure
information” – being used to withhold information on dams, power
plants, oil pipelines and structures
– Court closures
• Federal courts are increasingly closing immigration law and
deportation hearings at the request of prosecutors
-- Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Access to Information Tightens
• Government shifts the burden
of disseminating public
information from itself to the
press.
• Reporters told: You can have it,
but we won’t help you get it.
• For example …
We Don’t Have No Stinking Lists!
Ask … But We Won’t Tell
 “The Department of Homeland Security itself,
meanwhile, is the most secretive of agencies in
the most secretive of administrations. When a CJR
intern asked for the exact number of terrorist warnings to
the public since 2002, a p.r. person at the department,
who declined to give her full name, said the information
was ‘classified.’ ”
– “Imagining Evil, Homeland Security: What We Don’t Know Can
Hurt Us”
– Columbia Journalism Review, Sept.-Oct., 2004
Confidentiality Threatened
• Anthrax Figure Wins a Round
on News Sources
– “In a development that could undercut
reporters' ability to obtain confidential
information, Justice Department officials
agreed Thursday to distribute to dozens
of federal investigators in the 2001
anthrax case a document they can sign
to release journalists from pledges of
confidentiality.”
–
New York Times, Oct. 21, 2004
Free Press Under Fire
• “The fundamental right of
Americans, through our free
press, to penetrate and criticize
the workings of our government
is under attack as never
before.”
– William Safire, New York Times, Sept. 29, 2004
Stories Are Going Untold
• “The past two decades of journalism in the
United States generated a collection of important
stories that made significant changes to benefit
the public interest. But reporting many of
those stories would be difficult or
impossible today because of greater
restrictions on access to institutions, events and
information.”
– Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, “Lost Stories”
Balancing Act
• Every story must take into
account the “competing
interests” of homeland
security -- assessing threat
vs. protecting liberties.
– David Boardman
Managing editor, Seattle Times
Security vs. Liberty
How Press Coverage Is Shaped
National security coverage is shaped by the
“traditional journalistic fault lines.”
– Amanda Bennett, Editor, Philadelphia Inquirer
Journalistic Fault Lines
What Does That Mean?
• Fault lines are the hard-wired pieces of the
news business – structural, intellectual
and emotional – that influence the quality
of our work.
• For example …
Journalistic Fault Lines
• Expediency: Deadlines eventually arrive; we publish
what’s done.
• Space: There’s only so much of it. We write to fit.
• Need for Narrative: A story has to have tension; good
guys vs. bad guys make for better stories.
• Fairness: On the one hand, on the other, on yet another.
Truths are not self-evident. They are “according to” and
usually rebutted.
• Bad News: Let’s face it, if it’s broke we prefer it.
• Status Quo: We are the establishment and, as such, will
only go so far in our reporting.
– Andrew Cline, Rhetorica.net
Big vs. Small Newspapers
Security & Liberty Coverage
• Headlines:
– Most stories are wire or syndicated, short,
spot, institutional
– “Fairness” (he said, she said) dominates
– Localization of national issues is almost nonexistent
– Even larger papers (not Times, Post, Trib)
more likely to be reactive and routine rather
than enterprising and exceptional
One Newspaper’s Coverage
• Dallas Morning News
– 145 mentions of Patriot Act in last
two years
– Two local stories of substance:
• Local libraries concerned about section
215; B-1, 890 words, May 11, 2004
• City Council condemns Patriot Act City, one
of the largest to pass decree; some say
liberties threatened; B-1, 800 words, Feb.
26, 2004
– No indication of local enterprise
-- Based on Factiva search
… and Another’s
• Seattle Times
– 148 mentions of Patriot Act in last two
years
– Some local enterprise:
• Takeout on local town’s opposition to
Patriot Act, 2,400 words, A-1, Aug. 10,
2003
• Student investigated for photographing
local water facility
– Substantial space devoted to L.A.
Times, Wash. Post stories on privacy
vs. security, terrorism prosecutions
-- Based on Factiva search
Types of Coverage
• Spot news
– Stories that just happened
• Beat reporting
– Stories that were developed or encountered
while working in a subject area
• Enterprise
– Stories that derived from our own initiative
Type of Coverage:
Spot News
• Stories that just happened
– Most prevalent
– Least perspective
– Lack of opposing viewpoints
– Reliant on press conferences or official
announcements
• However …
Spot Stories Can …
• Police open fire at anti-war
protest, longshoremen
injured
– “Police opened fire with wooden
dowels, ‘sting balls’ and other nonlethal weapons at anti-war
protesters outside the Port of
Oakland, injuring at least a dozen
demonstrators and six
longshoremen standing nearby.”
-- Martha Mendoza
Associated Press, April 8, 2003
… Lead to Follow-ups
• State monitored war protesters
– “Days before firing wooden slugs at antiwar protesters, Oakland police were
warned of potential violence at the Port of
Oakland by California's anti-terrorism
intelligence center, which admits
blurring the line between terrorism
and political dissent.”
- Oakland Tribune, May 18, 2003
Beat Reporting:
Pluses and Minuses
• Pluses
– Localization of national
issues
– Numerous takeouts
developed off beats
– Application of broad
issues – such as
immigration – to
specific topics – such
as foreign students
• Minuses
– Mostly spot stories
reacting to official
actions
– Repetitive background
used as filler for many
stories
– Epidemic of he-saidshe-said-itis
Beat Reporting: Topics
• Stories developed or encountered while working
a beat, such as:
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Local, regional or state government
Legal affairs
Education
Law enforcement
Immigration
Business
Science
One Beat Reporter’s Work
• Bob Egelko, Federal court
reporter, S.F. Chronicle
– Bylines 2003-04: 650+
– Nexis returns on:
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Patriot Act: 11
Homeland security: 8
Immigration: 43
Criminal justice: 15
Civil liberty: 103
Enterprise Off the Beat
• “Justices to rule on detention of immigrants”
– “The case arose before Sept. 11, 2001, and is not directly related
to terrorism. But the ruling, due by the end of June, could be
crucial for the Bush administration's claim of broad
authority to order detention without bail in immigration
proceedings -- authority that has been used to hold more than
1,000 people, mostly for minor immigration violations, since the
attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.”
-- San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 15, 2003, A-3
Enterprise Off the Beat
• “Congress uses scalpel to cut up Patriot Act”
– “In response to the worst terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil,
Congress passed the greatest expansion of search and
surveillance authority in the nation's history, with barely a
murmur of dissent. But less than two years later, the USA
Patriot Act is under siege. More than a half-dozen bills to
roll back portions of the law are pending in Congress.”
-- San Francisco Chronicle, Sept. 10, 2003, A-1
One Beat Reporter’s Work
• Dan Eggen, Justice
Department reporter,
Washington Post
– Bylines 2003-04: 400+
– Factiva returns on:
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Patriot Act: 28
Homeland security: 25
Immigration: 23
Criminal Justice: 1
Civil liberty: 22
Enterprise Off the Beat
• “FBI Applies New Rules to Surveillance”
– “Under the new guidelines, all counterterrorism cases are
opened under the same classification number, 315, and are
handled from the outset like an intelligence or espionage
investigation, officials said. The structure allows
investigators to more easily use secret warrants and
other methods that are overseen by the surveillance
court and not available in traditional criminal probes, sources
said.”
-- Washington Post, Dec. 13, 2003, A-1
Enterprise Reporting
• Stories derived from our own initiative
– True enterprise was rare
– Mostly limited to the largest newspapers
– More enterprise coverage in newspapers on
both coasts than those in the heartland
Enterprise
New York Times: Terrorbusters Inc.
Oct. 16, 2004
Enterprise
Wall Street Journal: Holding Pattern
June 3, 2003
• “Hunt for Terrorists Lands One Pilot In State of
Limbo”
– “… as the government assembles a bureaucracy for
handling alleged terrorist threats it is drawing fire
for inadequate due-process protections. Big
airline-pilots' and mechanics' unions have filed suit in
federal court to strike down the TSA's threatassessment system, arguing the agency's standards
… encourage ‘arbitrary, inconsistent and
discriminatory enforcement.’”
Enterprise
Chicago Tribune: Tossed Out of America
Nov. 16, 2003
Enterprise:
Sacramento Bee: Liberty in the Balance
Sept. 21, 2003
Topics:
Homeland Security
• Issues
– Anti-terrorism
– Preparedness, airports, public buildings, structures
and spaces, ports
– Intelligence gathering
– Law enforcement
– Technology
– Funding
– Money sent to first responders
– Bureaucracy
Topics:
Politics & Government
• Issues
– Legislation
– Funding
– Partisan debate
– Department of Homeland Security
– Politics and culture of bureaucracies
Topics:
Immigration
• Issues
– Deportation
– Asylum
– Education enrollment
– Scientific research
Topics:
Criminal Justice
• Issues
– Detainment
– Ethnic profiling
– Prosecution, secret warrants (Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court)
– Legal affairs
– Court system
Topics:
Civil Liberties
• Issues
– Privacy
• Libraries, Internet use
– Ethnic profiling
– Religion
– Open government
• Freedom of information
– Critical infrastructure
• Access to information
– Environmental
One Newspaper’s Coverage:
Newark Star-Ledger
• Archive search: 01/01/03 – 07/31/04
– 58 stories; 12 on Page 1
– Topics:
• Security – 17: National, regional and local issues
• Immigration – 3: Deportations
• Newark airport – 13: Security issues, TSA hiring, luggage
searches
• Newark port – 3: Cost issues, security of containers
• Civil liberty – 10: Concerns about Patriot Act, librarians
• Funding issues – 4: Cost to local entities of security upgrades
• Cops & Courts – 8: Missile buyer arrested; court rulings on
detainees
Are We Succeeding at This?
• “The primary purpose of
journalism is to provide citizens
with the information they need
to be free and self-governing.”
– The Elements of Journalism,
Bill Kovach, Tom Rosenstiel
What’s at Stake: Our Values
“… in the face of devastating terrorist attacks, ‘the
government may be justified in taking measures which in
less troubled conditions could be seen as
infringements of individual liberties.’ ”
– John Yoo, former Justice Department lawyer and architect of
the legal argument establishing military tribunals
-- Tim Golden, New York Times, “Tough Justice,” Oct. 24, 2004
The Lesser Evil
• “When democracies fight terrorism, they are defending
the proposition that their political life should be free of
violence. But defeating terror requires violence. It may
also require coercion, secrecy, deception, even violation
of rights. How can democracies resort to these
means without destroying the values for which
they stand? How can they resort to the lesser evil
without succumbing to the greater?”
– Michael Ignatieff
Director, Carr Center, Kennedy School of Government
New York Times Magazine, May 2, 2004
Covering Security
• Another way to think about it …
– Define the Homeland Security beat by the
questions journalists should ask on behalf of
the public
– What are those questions?
Covering Security
• Questions that can be asked
– What is the status of consolidating the terrorist watch lists? Who
has access to them right now?
– How long would it take to inoculate a community in the event of a
smallpox attack?
– Does your community have a plan in the event of a terrorist
attack?
– Have local responders gotten federal anti-terrorism grants? How
have they spent the money?
– What has been done to ensure local ports are secure against
smuggling of weapons of mass destruction?
– Nieman Watchdog Project
Competing Interests:
Liberty & Security
• Homeland security
questions for political
candidates:
– Do you support issuing a national
identity card to every American?
– Do you feel the police in your
community are equipped to deal
with a terrorist incident?
– Would you be willing to spend
more money on security at the
expense of schools and local
priorities?
-- Nieman Watchdog Project
Competing Interests:
Liberty & Security
• Homeland security
questions for the
Business beat:
– Have corporate executives been
given special training in the event
of a kidnapping?
– Has the company installed special
firewalls to prevent a cyber
attack?
– Has the company been working
with private security firms to
tighten security?
-- Nieman Watchdog Project
Competing Interests:
Liberty & Security
• Homeland security questions for Science and
Technology reporters:
– Are new immigration policies affecting business or
medical research?
– Are security measures preventing the import of
foreign research into the U.S.?
– How is science being used for anti-terrorism
measures – or for anti-privacy measures?
Did We Do All We Could?
Thanks to …
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Jim Willse, Newark Star-Ledger
M.J. Crowley, Newark Star-Ledger
Amy Goldstein, Washington Post
Eric Newton, Knight Foundation
Reporters Committee for Freedom
of the Press
Brant Houston, IRE
Doug Clifton, Cleveland Plain
Dealer
Amanda Bennett, Philadelphia
Inquirer
David Boardman, Seattle Times
Jack Fuller, Chicago Tribune
Andrew Cline, Rhetorica.net
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Martha Mendoza, Associated
Press
Nieman Watchdog Project
Sharon Rosenhause, Fort
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee
Judy Canter, San Francisco
Chronicle
Sharon Crenson
Lara Clark, American Library
Association
Rick Blum, Open the Government
Stella Richardson, ACLU,
Northern California
… and, of course, Steve Montiel
and Marc Cooper