This administration must be more open

Published 8:09 pm Monday, September 22, 2014

When journalists complain that the Obama administration has failed to live up to its promise to be the “most transparent” in history, much of the public yawns. After all, if anyone has a lower approval rating than Congress and the administration, it’s the media.

But a lack of transparency does much more than just make reporters’ jobs harder. The administration’s aggressive tactics against “leaks” has frightened many government workers into staying silent about issues that should be made known.

New York Times reporter James Risen, who could possibly go to jail for not revealing a source within government, spoke recently about just how frightened many government workers are.

Risen went to one source’s home and could clearly see the fear in the source’s eyes.

“He opened the door and he turned white,” Risen said. “He marches me back through the kitchen (to a back exit) and said, ‘Go out that way.’”

As the Associated Press reports, “Risen said intense pressure on reporters and their sources is having a chilling effect on newsgathering.”

That criticism came during a recent convention of the American Society of News Editors, the Associated Press Media Editors and the Associated Press Photo Managers.

“The AP’s Washington chief of bureau, Sally Buzbee, said the Obama administration’s efforts to control information extend even to agencies not directly involved in intelligence gathering,” the AP reported. “Some sources, she said, have reportedly been warned they could be fired for even talking to a reporter.”

And those efforts have trickled down to even the local level.

“The White House push to limit access and reduce transparency has essentially served as the secrecy road map for all kinds of organizations — from local and state governments to universities and even sporting events,” said Brian Carovillano, AP managing editor for U.S. news.

The Obama administration, of course, stands by its claims to be open and above-board.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz said “Over the past six years, federal agencies have gone to great efforts to make government more transparent and more accessible than ever, to provide people with information that they can use in their daily lives, and to solicit public participation in government decision-making and thus tap the expertise that resides outside of government.”

Last month, a group of government agency watchdogs wrote to the administration to complain that even their efforts have been blocked.

The letter states, “Refusing, restricting, or delaying an Inspector General’s access to documents leads to incomplete, inaccurate, or significantly delayed findings or recommendations, which in turn may prevent the agency from promptly correcting serious problems and deprive Congress of timely information regarding the agency’s performance.”

Why is transparency important?

Because transparency is, in fact, the most effective means of keeping government power in check.

As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously said, “Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.”

We must demand better from the Obama administration.