New York Times reporter James Risen called the Obama administration \u201cthe greatest enemy of press freedom that we have encountered in at least a generation\u201d on Friday, explaining that the White House seeks to control the flow of information and those who refuse to play along \u201cwill be punished.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poynter reports that Risen made the remarks while speaking at Sources and Secrets conference \u2014 a meeting of journalism , communication and government professionals held in New York City. The foreign policy reporter, who is currently fighting a fierce court battle with the federal government over his protection of a confidential source, warned that press freedom is under serious attack in today\u2019s America.<\/p>\n
In a speech kicking off the conference, Risen claimed that the Obama administration wants to \u201cnarrow the field of national security reporting\u201d and \u201ccreate a path for accepted reporting.\u201d Those who stray from that path, he cautioned, \u201cwill be punished.\u201d<\/p>\n
The result is a \u201cde facto Official Secrets Act,\u201d Risen explained, making the current White House \u201cthe greatest enemy of press freedom that we have encountered in at least a generation.\u201d And the media has been \u201ctoo timid\u201d in pushing back against the onslaught.<\/p>\n
Some of that timidity was on display at the conference. Jeffrey Toobin, a writer for The New Yorker, denied that any constitutional protections for his profession even existed. \u201cIt won\u2019t take me long to alienate everyone in the room,\u201d he declared. \u201cFor better or worse, it has been clear there is no journalistic privilege under the First Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert Litt, the administration\u2019s top lawyer for the national intelligence community, agreed with that statement.<\/p>\n