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US Spy Agencies See Bloggers as Journalists
Sniper223 writes with a link to ABC's Blotter blog. That site observes that at least in the realm of US intelligence gathering, the 'are bloggers journalists' question is already decided. "Despite the rap that bloggers simply 'bloviate' and 'don't try to find things out,' as conservative newspaper columnist Robert Novak once sniffed, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA) have altered policies to indicate they're taking blogs seriously, and a growing number of public offices are actively reaching out to the blogosphere. The CIA recently updated its policies on Freedom of Information Act requests to allow bloggers to qualify for special treatment once reserved for old-school reporters. And last August, the NSA issued a directive to its employees to report leaks of classified information to the media — "including blogs," the order said."
The greatest strength of the web is that anyone can publish to a worldwide audience. The greatest weakness of the web is that anyone can publish to a worldwide audience. However, this is only a minor weakness. I'm not forced at gun point to read everybody else's blogs, I get to pick and choose what I read and when I read it.
And this is what the old media don't like about the rise of the blog. They no longer get to control content and the blogs are eating in to what used to be their advertising revenue.
A leak, however it happens, is a leak. I don't think the fact they mentioned blogs means much. If people started leaking by carrier pigeon I'm sure that would get included in such a directive as well.
Simon.
No, next up will probably be: Now that bloggers are journalists, anonymous blogging will be made illegal. Closely followed by: Everyone posting a comment on the internet is a blogger.
They don't want more "free speech" or more information protection. Quite the opposite.
The reason is simply that they want people to tell when they have inside knowledge. Without protection, people would beat around the bush until someone from law enforcement picks it up and starts looking into it, all without the blogger actually being responsible for it. He just posted hints and allegations.
With protection, he'll simply state the fact that something's going wrong in a company. This allows more efficiency. To prosecure or to cover up, depending on circumstances...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Good because maybe they'll finally get the rights and protections everyone so rightly deserves.
Bad because it only further validates that you can only be a journalist (and thus have those previously mentioned rights and protections) if the federal gov'ment says you are a journalist.
The concept of the 'real journalist' is just a modern construct, however. Up until the late 20th century, people reported on the news and they rose through the ranks through news organizations. There was no select cadre of 'journalists' who were professionally trained to 'report the news.' Many of the historic classic 'reporters' started out in the news industry as copy boys and clerks.
These days, you flunk out of calculus, decide you can't be an engineer, and the English department is too snooty (you'd have to READ BOOKS and all that awful stuff), so you transfer to J-School. And become part of the 'News Elite.'
Thank goodness that whole sheen is melting away.
Microsoft says legacy (serial/parallel) ports are bad. They don't obfuscate the hardware enough.
Of course there is. Want to count the number of free wireless APs out there? Or hijackable open/WEP ones? There are plenty of venues for anonymous internet access out there, legal and illegal. Just reset your MAC beforehand, and use Tor to really obscure things.
LOAD "SIG",8,1
Its mostly made up of attorneys. ( at least the parts that have control )
---- Booth was a patriot ----
When "fake but accurate" is acceptable to the highest, most successful journalists, you better believe that there are some real idiots in the dregs of the profession.
Because your standards for a blogger to be a journalist are higher than Dan Rather could meet, are higher than the the reporters who caved and revealed their sources in the Plame affair, and they're higher than those "journalists" at The New Republic who swallowed Scott Thomas Beauchamp's fantasies hook, line, and sinker, never bothering to corroborate his story and despite the fact they knew that Beauchamp's story was being investigated and that he had signed some sort of statement regarding the veracity of his claims. Yet they ran the story anyway.
So, by your own standards for bloggers, Dan Rather, NY Times writers who've won Pulitzer Prizes, and the biased fools at The New Republic are NOT journalists.
"Please excuse my cynicism of an organisation (i.e. the CIA) that relies on disinformation, propaganda, and psychological warfare, and uses the mass media and journalists to spread it."
Ummmm......Aren't those the same type of tactics all other countries spook agencies employ?
Intelligence agencies, regardless of country, regularly employ dirty tricks to get the information or outcome they desire. What makes people think the CIA have to be above these types of things?
In the spy world there are nasty, dirty tricks that are used by all governments to achieve results. Typical American values & morals do not and should not apply.