WASHINGTON — How should journalists handle national security leaks?
That was the question on tap at a Washington panel discussion Monday at the Newseum, and academics and attorneys agreed the answer is not clear cut.
“Ten years ago, the rules were simple,” said panelist Paul Rosenzweig, an attorney and founder of Red Branch Consulting PLLC. “Today, we’ve changed that paradigm and to a large degree, that’s a function not so much of the brick and mortar press, but of the democratization of the distribution function through the Internet.”
Rosenzweig, along with Medill School of Journalism’s National Security Journalism Initiative Co-Directors Ellen Shearer and Tim McNulty, were editors of “Whistleblowers, Leaks, and the Media,” a book that examines the intersection of law and freedom of the press within the context of government leaks. The American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Law and National Security, the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative and the Newseum Institute sponsored Monday’s event.
The panelists had mixed recommendations for how journalists can balance national security interests with core democratic principles.
Gene Policinski, chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute, argued that the government needs to make data more transparent. He said it’s overzealous in labeling information as classified.
“One of the things that I think encourages whistleblowers, leaks and all this is that data is just incomprehensibly classified,” he said. “You have to stop this over classification.”
Meanwhile, Harvey Rishikof, chair of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security, believes that Congress needs to play a stronger role in determining which information should be kept secret.
“I think we all agree we need new legislation,” he said. “We really need a commission to start advising Congress to rethink the boundaries on this issue.”
Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden and Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning, who was convicted of espionage for spilling military secrets to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, have thrust leaks cases into the national spotlight and provoked questions as to a journalist’s duty to publish classified information.
The panelists agreed that when it comes to accountability, whether one qualifies as a professional journalist or a mere disseminator of information matters. Because anyone with an Internet connection can post content, roles and the responsibilities that accompany them have become murky.
“When you’re taking on the responsibility of disseminating important information – national security information – you may have become a journalist, but then you’re going to have to take on some of the responsibility,” Shearer said.
