Foley documentary wins Sundance award

A powerful film depicting the life in captivity of Medill alum James Foley is winning awards and premiering on HBO, raising awareness of the dangers of conflict reporting. Continue reading →

Medill signs on to safety principles for journalists effort

The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is the latest journalism organization to sign on to the Global Safety Principles and Practices, a set of international protection standards for reporters, especially those in conflict areas. Continue reading →

Blue Force Tracker website gives voice to members of American military

Blue Force tracking is a term used in the military for a computer system that tracks where military forces – friendly (blue forces) and hostile – are located. A new website has taken that name and used it to explain … Continue reading →

For journalists in the Mideast, roles and nationalities no longer a protection

The second beheading of an American journalist by ISIS in two weeks may indicate that the Sunni militant group is targeting journalists in a particularly brutal form to show the world – and particularly President Barack Obama – its strength and influence, according to several experts.

“We’ve seen this before by drug cartels in Mexico, and now by ISIS in Syria and northern Iraq,” said Frank Smyth, executive director of Global Journalist Security, a firm that trains journalists to operate in hostile environments. “Journalists in such environments should no longer expect that their role as independent observers will be respected.”

In a video released Tuesday, Steven Sotloff, 31, was shown being beheaded by a member of ISIS. The White House said intelligence officials believe the video to be authentic. Continue reading →

Voice of America v. Voice of Putin

WASHINGTON – The House Foreign Affairs Committee wants to make sure the United States isn’t beaten by the Russian propaganda machine, and wants to more fully enlist the Voice of America in that effort. But  Congress might consider that a better way to combat Vladimir Putin’s efforts to push Russian values is to show the world that American values include a free an impartial press.

“The fact is that (the VOA) has been a great success in the Cold War era and beyond because it’s telling the truth,” said American Press Institute Executive Director Tom Rosenstiel. “We stand for a free press and that promotes democracy.”

The House bill, sponsored by Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., and New York Rep. Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the committee, aims to make sure VOA knows its mission is “to support U.S. public diplomacy efforts.” Continue reading →

Obama panel member discusses key points of report to White House on NSA data collection

University of Chicago First Amendment scholar Geoffrey Stone was not expecting unanimity among the group of five experts called together by President  Barack Obama to review the National Security Agency’s collection of vast amounts of phone records and other digital information of millions of Americans.

The five-member group was comprised of Richard Clarke, the counterterrorism chief for the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations who criticized Bush’s attitude toward counterterrorism pre-9/11; Michael Morell, who was acting CIA director in 2011 and again in 2012-13 for Obama; Cass Sunstein, who was head of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in Obama’s first term; Peter Swire, a professor at the George Institute of Technology who specializes in privacy law and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress; and Stone. Continue reading →

Cyber weapons as a possible response to strike over Syria’s chemical weapons

If current progress toward Syria turning over its chemical weapons ultimately unravels and the U.S. ultimately launches a military strike, it can do so with impunity in terms of Syria’s ability to retaliate kinetically. It doesn’t have the ability to reach any American assets except, possibly, the naval ships nearby.

But in the cyber world, Syria’s ability to attack is more difficult to assess. However, the Syrian Electronic Army, a pro-Assad regime group of hackers that may in fact be directed by President Bashar al-Assad’s administration, has already said it will retaliate if the U.S. launches an air strike.

“It’s like when Osama bin Laden declared war on the United States. We’re sort of ignoring the fact that people have affirmatively said, ‘We’re going to hit you,’” said Paul Rosenzweig, a former deputy assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security and cybersecurity expert. “How good they (the Syrian Electronic Army) are is an open question.”

“It’s like when Osama bin Laden declared war on the United States. We’re sort of ignoring the fact that people have affirmatively said, ‘We’re going to hit you,’” said Paul Rosenzweig, a former deputy assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security and cybersecurity expert. “How good they (the Syrian Electronic Army) are is an open question.” Continue reading →

Not much convincing accomplished in president’s speech on Syria

Barack Obama’s speech Tuesday evening outlining the case for a military strike against Syria even while embracing Russia’s proposal that the country agree to give up its stockpile of chemical weapons accomplished many things, although convincing Americans of the need for military force doesn’t appear to have been one of them.

At a town hall meeting at Al Jazeera America’s nightly news show, “America Tonight,” most of the mainly 20-something crowd said the president didn’t give them any new information and didn’t sway their opinions, which were generally against use of force against Syria to destroy its chemical weapons caches.

But among the things the speech did accomplish, according to experts who spoke on the show:

• Making it clear that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government has for the first time acknowledge it does have a supply of chemical weapons, although it has not admitted using them.
• Sending a message to Iran that the United States will use military force to back up threats.
• Pointing out that if Syria can freely use chemical weapons without retaliations, other nations and terrorist groups won’t be far behind.
• The U.S. is willing to act unilaterally if necessary.

Continue reading →

NSA chief says ‘two-person rule’ will help protect classified information

ASPEN, Colo. – The National Security Agency is implementing a series of procedural changes to guard against insider threats like that posed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, whose leaks of classified information have caused “significant damage” to U.S. security, the head of the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command told the Aspen Security Forum on Thursday.

Gen. Keith Alexander, who heads the two agencies, said he has “concrete proof that terrorists have taken action and made changes” based on the information Snowden has made public.

Alexander said he knows what information Snowden downloaded and took from NSA computers and responded “yes” when asked if it was a lot. Continue reading →

TSA offering new way to expedite airport security screening

Air travel will soon be easier for Americans who can afford $85 for a new, expedited security screening plan, the head of the Transportation Security Administration said Friday. Continue reading →