Leaks of Classified Information

2021 ◽  
pp. 57-73
Author(s):  
Michael Morell
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Good Faith ◽  
Intelligence Community ◽  
The Public ◽  
News Organizations ◽  
The Media ◽  
Potential Damage

This essay assesses the motivation of leakers, the damage from leaks, and the responsibilities of journalists and the Intelligence Community. The essay argues that leaks generally have nothing to do with government wrongdoing, leakers are rarely motivated by a belief that the public needs to know about government wrongdoing, though leakers often claim to be, and the damage to the security and economy of the country from leaks is tremendous. News organizations should take seriously the potential damage from publication of classified information and should weigh the public good against that potential damage to national security. The Intelligence Community should build relationships with the media based on honesty and trust, so they will be seen as acting in good faith when they ask the media not to publish classified information for security reasons. All leakers should be prosecuted, so there can be an assessment of whether those who claim they acted for the public good actually did so.

Behind the Scenes with the Snowden Files

2021 ◽  
pp. 105-122
Author(s):  
Ellen Nakashima
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Right To Know ◽  
Washington Post ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
Duty To Inform ◽  
Push And Pull

This essay examines how the Washington Post dealt with the tension between its duty to inform the public and its desire to protect national security when it received documents leaked by Edward Snowden. The essay describes the push-and-pull between the media and the government. Journalists try to advance the public’s right to know, particularly about potential government encroachment on civil liberties, and the government tries to defend the security of the country while respecting civil liberties. Reporters with a bias for public disclosure voluntarily withhold certain documents and details based on a careful consideration of harm, and intelligence officials with a bias toward secrecy do not fight every disclosure. The Post’s coverage of the Snowden leaks provides an opportunity to gain insights into how to navigate the inevitable conflicts between journalists’ desire to inform the public and the government’s desire to protect its secrets from foreign powers.

Comparing Intelligence Accountability

2021 ◽  
pp. 22-43
Author(s):  
Christian Leuprecht
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Intelligence Community ◽  
The Public ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Media ◽  
Legislative Committees ◽  
Institutional Architecture ◽  
Key Terms

This chapter reviews the literature of intelligence accountability, reviews different theories, and introduces readers to key terms such as oversight, review, control, and governance. This book complements the process of intelligence oversight—the practice of holding ISAs to account, whereby ISAs have to justify their activities—with other types and levels of accountability. Typologically, accountability bodies differ by ways and methods they use to hold ISAs accountable: they can review, oversee, or control Intelligence and Security Agencies (ISA), and/or accept and address complaints concerning actions or activities of an ISA. Although conventionally they assessed compliance within an intelligence community, as of late they have been performing additional functions, such as promoting innovation. The different types of accountability are complemented by various layers in which Intelligence and Security Agencies are held accountable: internal, managerial, and external. The chapter introduces readers to the institutional architecture of intelligence accountability: legislative committees, judicial and quasi-judicial bodies, bureaucratic and administrative bodies, and executive oversight. It goes on to review intelligence accountability frameworks: laws, legislatures, the executive, the judiciary, the media, the public, civil society, and the democratic interest. The chapter closes on developments in international and supranational accountability cooperation.

Neue Gemeinwohlherausforderungen - Konsequenzen für Wettbewerbsrecht und Regulierung

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Good ◽  
The Public ◽  
Internet Age ◽  
Fourth Symposium ◽  
Regulatory Law ◽  
Fourth Volume ◽  
The Media ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
The One ◽  
The University

On 11 and 12 September 2018, the fourth symposium of the “Wissenschaftliche Vereinigung für das gesamte Regulierungsrecht” [“Scientific Association for the Entirety of Regulatory Law”] took place at the University of Regensburg. The topic was: “New challenges for the public good – consequences for competition law and regulation”. The basic idea of the conference concept was, on the one hand, to consider which new challenges for the public good exist in the classical network economies of the telecommunications, energy and railway regulations, and on the other hand, to focus on adjacent sectors – such as the media and communications industries – and finally go beyond the sectors considered so far. The conference was divided into the following thematic blocks: “basic papers”, “classic sectors in transition”, “new sectors in the internet age” and “new challenges beyond the sectors”. The fourth volume of the series contains the lectures given at the symposium. With contributions by Markus Ludwigs, Heike Schweitzer, Thomas Fetzer, Charlotte Kreuter-Kirchhof, Karten Otte, Karl-Eberhard Hain, Ralf Müller-Terpitz, Rupprecht Podszun, Thosten Kingreen, Julia Barth, Anna Kellner, Fabian Toros and Florian Sackmann

The promise to the Arab World: Attributes of U.S. President Obama in Arabic-language tweets

2017 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariam F Alkazemi ◽  
Shahira Fahmy ◽  
Wayne Wanta
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
The United States ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
President Obama ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Beginning ◽  
News Organizations ◽  
The Media ◽  
The U.S

U.S. President Barack Obama's much-anticipated address in Egypt in 2009 promised a new beginning between the U.S. government and the Arab world but only a few years later there were many criticisms that the U.S. President did not live up to his promises, driving Arab attitudes toward the United States to their lowest point in years. Five years later, we analyzed Arabic-language twitter messages involving President Obama to examine cognitive and affective attributes. Results show that tweets by members of the media differed greatly from tweets by members of the public. The public tweets held more negative attitudes towards the U.S. President than tweets by news organizations. Members of the public also were more likely to link the President to a wider range of countries, suggesting a greater diversity of attributes, while primarily fixating on the Palestinian issue.

Should We Rely on Whistleblowers?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahul Sagar
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Good Faith ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
The Public

This chapter examines the circumstances under which an official will be justified in violating laws that prohibit unauthorized disclosures of classified information. It explains why we cannot rely on the practice of whistleblowing to counter the misuse of state secrecy. It argues that an official may “blow the whistle” if he/she encounters classified information that clearly reveals wrongdoing posing an immediate and serious threat to the public interest, and if he/she makes a good faith effort to minimize the harm that the publication of this information may cause national security. It also asserts that the official must identify himself/herself so that we can assess whether his/her view of what constitutes a wrongful exercise of executive power is a disinterested one. Finally, it shows that would-be whistleblowers have little incentive to disclose their identity, because doing so makes them vulnerable to retaliation from their managers and colleagues.

Critically Evaluate the role of National Security and their relationship with Media

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ms. Neelam Seam
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Research Question ◽  
National Development ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Major Step ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government

National Security is the main elements in the on- going process of nation building for any country, not limited to the developing and developed countries, An imperative for all countries that need to survive and gain prominence in the community of nations. While nation building is guided and directed by the political leadership, various actors contribute significantly to the process of nation building. Media, which is considered as a fourth pillar of the democracyand proper channel between the public and the government, is one of the major actors which contribute enormously to the exercise of nation building. The objective of this paper is to without national security the motive of nation building will ruin and media is the main instrument to protect national security which is the major step of nation building. My Research question of this Paper is "Whether the media is positively contributing in nation building with keeping in mind the important factor of National Security or The media misguided or obsessed with selfish or partisan interests, can destroy nations.In this paper we will critically analyze the role of media in Nation building, their Scope, functions of the Media, The concept of Nation building and national interests. Media and National security, Examine the factors which influence the role of media in national development. To make the study richer we will make a brief glance on the cases in which media play a positive and negative role. To conduct this research I will adopt the research methodology which is both in nature doctrinal and non-doctrinal. By these methods we can definitely reach towards the most viable and authentic conclusion that how media can effectively contribute in maintaining the National security viz-a-viz Become a voice of the public interest in the front of the government.

Crafting a New Compact in the Public Interest

2021 ◽  
pp. 39-56
Author(s):  
Keith B. Alexander ◽  
Jamil N. Jaffer
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
National Security ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
The Public ◽  
Fair Treatment ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Relationship

Leaks of highly classified information, popular views of government national security efforts, and changes in the media environment in recent years have resulted in a significant decay in the relationship between the government and the media and public trust in both institutions. To correct this harmful trend, a significant recalibration of the government-media relationship and the establishment of a new compact between them would best serve the public interest. The government should be more transparent about its national security efforts and more self-critical in classification decisions and should explain national security activities it undertakes, defending and justifying classified programs in detail whenever possible. The press must likewise be willing to afford the government fair treatment, including noting government efforts to protect national security, and to appropriately balance civil rights and privacy. It is important that these institutions work together to establish new mores on classification, government transparency, and a more responsible approach to classified disclosures.

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