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.

The reforms are intended to ensure that veterans receive swift health care.

As part of the new plan announced Monday, McDonald will establish a revamped customer service entity as well as a network of “community veteran advisory councils” to coordinate veteran-related issues with community partners.

In an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes”  that aired Sunday, McDonald also said he may fire 35 people involved in the scandal and that 1,000 more terminations could follow. But the agency has to follow procedure before any firings can occur, McDonald said in that interview. He also explained the protocol last Thursday at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

During last week’s breakfast, McDonald stressed that though he wants to hold potential wrongdoers accountable, he has to put together a strong case to make the terminations “stick.” Also, any disciplinary actions will come second to a criminal investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice.

“Criminal prosecution has the priority and then the administrative disciplinary action follows,” he said. “Obviously the easiest way to mess up an evidentiary situation is to have multiple people investigating at the same time.”

McDonald said that in an effort to shift the agency’s culture, he’s held meetings with all VA employees, emphasizing his appreciation for whistleblowers and the need for all workers to be critical of the agency’s operations.

Also at Thursday’s breakfast, McDonald addressed the rollout of veteran Choice Cards, a temporary benefit that allows eligible veterans to go outside of the VA hospital network for health care if they’ve had to wait too long for an appointment or reside too far from an agency clinic. Because the law requiring the cards specifies that all cards must be distributed no later than Thursday, critics have questioned the VA’s decision to mail the cards in three phases.

But the secretary said that mailing them all at once would have been too chaotic.

“All of us were fearful that if we sent nine million cards out, that we would create chaos amongst our veteran population, and that our veteran population would wonder why they’re receiving a card and they would have trouble sorting through the directions,” McDonald explained.

The first phase was rolled out last Wednesday.

McDonald, who served in the army before climbing the ranks to become CEO of Proctor & Gamble, took over the agency three months ago. He replaced Eric Shinseki, who resigned in the wake of the scandal.

Over the past four months, the national new patient primary care wait time has been reduced by 18 percent, according to the agency. Further, 98 percent of appointments have been completed within 30 days of the veteran’s preferred fate, or the date determined to be medically necessary by a physician.