Demonizing The Press

Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter.-Thomas Jefferson

To this journalist, President George W. Bush and his allies are playing a dangerous game in their demonization of the New York Times for its exposure of a secret program that examined banking transactions of thousands of Americans and for its earlier disclosure of another secret program in which the National Security Agency (NSA) monitored tens of thousands of international telephone calls.

Other news organizations, including the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal have also come in for Administration criticism of their reporting on secret activities carried out under the broad umbrella of the "war on terror." However, special wrath seems to be reserved for the New York Times.

The Times reported in a June 23 front-page story on the Bush Administration program in which "counterterrorism officials have gained access to financial records from a vast international database and examined banking transactions involving thousands of Americans and others in the United States." Although government officials maintained that the program was "limited to tracing transactions of people suspected of having ties to al Qaeda," the Times called the program "a significant departure from typical practice in how the government acquires Americans' financial records" in that Treasury Department officials "did not seek individual court-approved warrants or subpoenas to examine specific transactions."

The response to the report was rapid and harsh. President Bush called the disclosure "disgraceful" and said that publishing the existence of the program "does great harm to the United States of America." Vice President Dick Cheney said: "What I find most disturbing about these stories is the fact that some of the news media take it upon themselves to disclose vital national security programs, thereby making it more difficult for us to prevent future attacks against the American people. That offends me." Cheney also maintained, as has Bush, that the programs are legal and conducted in a way that is consistent with the constitutional authority of the President.

Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, in a letter to the Times, wrote: "The decision by the New York Times to disclose the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, a robust and classified effort to map terrorist networks through the use of financial data, was irresponsible and harmful to the security of Americans and freedom-loving people worldwide." Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, wrote to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, stating: "I am outraged by the recent actions of the reporters, editors, and publisher of the New York Times to publish details of sensitive intelligence programs, and I request that you immediately investigate their actions for possible criminal prosecution under the Espionage Act, the Comint Act, and/or other relevant federal criminal statutes."

Members of the Administration and some commentators have compared the Times's report to publishing the date and location of a pending invasion. Cheney chastised the awarding of a Pulitzer Prize to the Times for its reporting on the NSA eavesdropping program. One conservative radio commentator suggested that Times Executive Editor Bill Keller should be tried for treason and, if found guilty, executed.

Such rhetoric is dishonest and dangerous. Just because a program is effective does not make it legal, and just because the President, vice president, and attorney general proclaim that they are acting within the law does not mean that they are. This is an Administration that has shown what borders on contempt for the Fourth Amendment, the one that prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures without a warrant. We are told repeatedly that Sept. 11, 2001, changed everything, but it did not change the Constitution. As citizens, we must be informed of programs such as these.

Using the language of treason to describe what the Times and these other three great newspapers are doing to inform the American public of the possibly illegal activities of the Bush Administration may be good politics, but it insults the spirit of American democracy. The nation's founders viewed freedom of the press as one of the foundations of a free society. For the past 230 years, their wisdom has sustained this nation. We would do well to remember that as we celebrate U.S. independence.

Thanks for reading.

Views expressed on this page are those of the author and not necessarily those of ACS.