Propaganda en deceptie in de massamedia #3

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'Meet the Press' Pundit With Financial Ties to NSA Misleadingly Slams Snowden | The Nation

Investigating the intersection of politics, lobbying and public policy.

On Meet the Press yesterday, shortly after host host David Gregory stunned many by suggesting that The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald should face prosecution, a roundtable of pundits discussed the unfolding Edward Snowden story. Mike Murphy, one of the Meet the Press pundits, mocked Snowden’s attempt to seek asylum, calling him a “so-called whistleblower,” and charging that “it’s never been easier in human history to be a whistleblower” through official means.

There are problems here with both the messenger and the message.

First, the message. In fact, the Obama administration has one of the worst records of any president’s in terms of prosecuting leaks and whistleblowers. Moreover, Snowden had virtually no legal protections as a member of an intelligence agency contractor (Booz Allen Hamilton). In These Times reported that “as part of last year’s Whistleblower’s Protection Enhancement Act, rights for whistleblowers were enhanced for many categories of federal employees, but intelligence employees were excluded from coverage under the act. Likewise, intelligence workers—both federal and contract employees—were excluded from whistle blower protections offered to military contract employees under the most recent National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).”

But Murphy himself has a stake in this debate that arguably ought to have been disclosed. Though Murphy was introduced only as a “Republican strategist,” he is also the founding partner of Navigators Global, a lobbying firm that represents one of the NSA’s largest contractors. Disclosures show that Navigators Global represents Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) on issues before Congress. For at least a decade, CSC has won major contracts from the National Security Agency (NSA). Murphy’s firm has lobbied on behalf of CSC for bills that would expand the NSA’s reach, including the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act or CISPA, which passed the House of Representatives earlier this year. As the Center for Democracy and Technology noted, the “legislation is being billed as an expansion of a collaboration between the National Security Agency (NSA) and major ISPs dubbed the Defense Industrial Base Pilot.”

As Americans continue to debate the revelations raised by Snowden, few lawmakers have raised the potential for abuse when powerful spy technology is outsourced to private contractors. Rather than focusing on the issue of the sprawling surveillance state or its legions of private contractors, many in the media seem intent on only discussing the personality or motives of Edward Snowden. While Murphy’s misleading assertion about whistleblower protections was challenged briefly by NBC’s Chuck Todd, his claim obscures the facts of the story.

Though Meet the Press has a strong reputation for confronting politicians with tough questions, often the show has trouble with disclosure, particularly in terms of revealing the private sector ties of their guests. For instance, Harold Ford, a regular Meet the Press pundit and a frequent voice for corporate-friendly policies, has served in various roles in the finance industry, with Bank of America and now with Morgan Stanley. He has used his perch on the show to criticize the Occupy movement and, more recently, to warn the Obama campaign against attacking Mitt Romney’s private equity record. Yet transcripts show that Ford is almost always introduced not as a Wall Street executive but as a “former Congressman.” Similarly, Murphy is almost always introduced as a “Republican strategist” without mention of his lobbying firm or its clients.


Bron: www.thenation.com

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'NYT' Hit for Labeling Journalist in Manning Case an 'Activist'

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I've covered Alexa O'Brien's steadfast journalistic work in covering the Bradley Manning hearings and now trial, where she is, along with Kevin Gosztola (co-author of our book on the Manning case), the most steadfast attendee, going back more than 18 months. Now she's written a pointed letter to the two New York Times writers who penned a piece late yesterday on WikiLeaks, which referred to her merely as an "activist who was present in court." She's asking for a correction. It continues the vital debate this week, set off by slams against Glenn Greenwald in the Snowden affair, over whether a "partisan" can really be a "journalist." But she also gets in a dig at the Times for failing to cover the trial on an ongoing basis. Recent profile of her here.


Dear Mr. Carr and Mr. Somaiya,

I expect that you will correct your recent article on the U.S. Investigation of WikiLeaks found here.

I am a journalist-- and the proper title for me is journalist, most especially because Mr. Somaiya has solicited information published by me in my capacity as a journalist-- and I am more than happy to publish my detailed and lengthy email exchange with him for the public.

Mr. Carr, Mr. Somiya, Mr. Bill Keller, The New York Times and other publications have used or linked to my work. I have been a credentialed member of the press at Fort Meade, MD for 18 month. My work covering the Manning trial was short listed for the 2013 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism (not activism). I have received a grant from the Freedom of the Press Foundation for journalism for my coverage of the Manning trial (not for activism).

I find the term activist used here by Mr. Carr and Mr Somaiya-- pejorative. So, you will accordingly correct your error immediately.

I am at Fort Meade, where are you, New York Times?

You are reading my journalistic work, using my journalistic work, capitalizing off of my journalistic work, and linking to my journalistic work about the largest criminal investigation ever into a publisher and its source.

More importantly, you are not here.

Best,
Alexa O'Brien

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Op woensdag 3 juli 2013 13:51 schreef Blue_Panther_Ninja het volgende:
WTF
http://www.gigapixel.com/image/gigapan-canucks-g7.html

De reden dat Canada maskers verbied.