In this recent story writer Frank Miele attacks the New York Times’ decision to publish classified military secrets. His argument is that publication endangered Americans and essentially amounted to treason.
The Open Records Project would agree with part of Miele’s argument but offer a caveat and some perspective.
Yes, it would seem that the New York Times’ decision to publish endangered Americans and from a certain point of view could be considered treason.
However, we would suggest that some consideration be given to the classification process itself. Who determines what and according to which parameters information is classified? Information is power because it offers the potential for embarassment and the invocation of peer pressure. Information makes the dissemination of untruth more difficult.
Selective disclosure is also power. In isolation disinformation and information are indistiguishable.
On this count, the Times’ record on openness is a little spotty, missing the Holocaust, Castro’s Communism, and Stalin’s murder of millions.
The Times has yet to return Duranty’s Pulitzer Prize.
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