This month is the 40th anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act, which sets up the process by which the public can get access to unpublished government information. The National Security Archive at George Washington University has a page about the history of the FOIA since its signing by President Johnson in 1966. Also of … Read more 40th Anniversary of FOIA
The New Orleans Times Picayune published an article on Sunday about Madeleine Albright’s appearance at the ALA Conference. The article was focused on Albright’s comments about the Cuban “independent librarians,” which really only amounted to a couple of sentences, and provided background on the situation from an anti-Castro perspective. Clearly Robert Kent got to the … Read more Ann Sparanese’s letter to the Times-Picayune
Glenn Greenwald, in “A ‘Pulitzer Prize for Treason,’” talks about the Bush Administration’s attempts to weaken investigative reporting through “criminalizing its basic functions.” Their interest is in maintaining a high level of secrecy and controlling public perceptions – hiding the truth. Greenwald talks about how their public spin on these efforts makes cynical use of … Read more Glenn Greenwald on Bush Administration Attacks on the Free Press
This juxtoposition is not intended to make a specific point; you can draw your own conclusions: This year’s Pulitzer Prize winners for Journalism. Project Censored’s picks for the top 25 “censored” news stories from last year.
George Washington U. to Receive Jack Anderson’s Papers — but FBI Wants to See Them First By Scott Carlson Chronicle of Higher Ed, April 18th, 2006 During his life and career as a muckraking journalist in Washington, Jack Anderson cultivated secret sources throughout the halls of government — sources who passed on information that allowed … Read more Government wants first crack at late journalist’s papers
From the March/April 2006 edition of FAIR‘s Extra!, “Fear & Favor 2005?¢‚Ǩ‚ÄùFAIR’s Sixth Annual Report” gives an informative run-down on how the news media was compromised by money last year. Important reading for an understanding of the latest developments in media monopoly and for getting a good reminder of how our “free press” is constrained … Read more Fear & Favor 2005?¢‚Ǩ‚ÄùFAIR’s Sixth Annual Report
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, the tireless media watchdog organization, celebrated its 20th birthday in the last issue of Extra!, their bimonthly magazine of media criticism, in an article by Robert McChesney that shows his great appreciation for their work. FAIR and their magazine have given me some of my strongest inspirations as a librarian … Read more FAIR is 20