Search News
For the Media
For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.
In My Opinion: Secrecy in Government Gains a Foothold
When the American Civil Liberties Union and People for the American Way find common cause with conservative columnist William Safire and the Cato Institute, something must be up.
What are they concerned about? Drawing these groups and advocates of good government and civil liberties together is the specter of secret government that seems to be a major focus of Bush administration policies.
Under the guise of national security, the Bush administration has been moving to restrict public and media access to information not only about government actions and policies, but about the government's dealings with the private sector. At the same time, the administration's establishment of a new "super snooping" initiative means all bets are off regarding personal privacy. His campaign pledge not withstanding, President Bush has supported the creation of a new government office charged with "mining" all available databases and building dossiers on ordinary Americans.
Despite the law giving oversight of the Government Printing Office to Congress, the Bush administration is continuing its campaign to restrict the public distribution of information that has been the GPO's function for more than 140 years.
In a fundamental challenge to the government's duty to keep citizens informed, the Bush administration is pressing for a system that would allow individual agencies to manage their own electronic databases, overturning the current system in which the work of government agencies is printed by the Government Printing Office and distributed to a network of regional libraries and other outlets and then to the public.
History proves that the executive branch in the past has been reluctant to release and share government documents. Now, the administration wants to limit public access to these documents and to encourage agencies to avoid public requests for information.
The administration couches its arguments in terms of cost, claiming that agencies should control their own printing to save money. But this approach would actually increase the government's costs, in addition to restricting the public's right to know and access to critical information.
In fact, Attorney General John Ashcroft already has advised federal agencies that "protecting sensitive business information" is a valid defense for stonewalling Freedom of Information Act requests.
The law creating the Department of Homeland Security contains some of the broadest assaults on both the disclosure of government information and personal privacy in our nation's history. Included are widespread suspension of the Freedom of Information Act, restrictions on public access to "sensitive but unclassified" information and much leeway for corporate or government operators interested in hiding embarrassing or criminal information.
This law also created the basis for what the Pentagon is calling "total information awareness" about every U.S. citizen, an effort to compile every piece of government and commercial data that exists about each of us. Information on every credit card purchase, every drug prescription, every website visited, every bank transaction made and more will be deposited in a huge database - producing an "electronic dossier" on 300 million Americans - and maintained by the Defense Department.
The bad press this "license to snoop" generated saw the Bush administration scramble to put a better face on the program, but its $200 million budget and its mission to obliterate the privacy rights of ordinary Americans remains.
The free flow of information and a free press are critical to our democracy. Yet another pending Bush administration action will make it easier for single companies to own several media outlets, reviving concerns about news bias, diversity of views and the bottom line getting in the way of full reporting.
A majority of the Federal Communications Commission seems to favor abolishing the government oversight that has blocked this concentration of media ownership. Current FCC rules prohibit a single company from owning a local newspaper and television station in the same community. Ultimately, overturning this rule will mean news controlled by a handful of organizations and differing voices ignored.
CWA is steadfast in its support for the war against terrorism and Al Qaeda. But the principles our country was founded on - the very principles that Al Qaeda wants so much to destroy - cannot be sacrificed or suspended to fit the political agenda of the party in power.
Fortunately, these concerns about the loss of individual privacy, the public's right to know and the ability of a free media to fully and fairly cover the pressing events of the day are getting more attention, and from bipartisan sources. That's what will keep the Bush administration's heavyhanded attempt to control information - and its desire to snoop around in our personal lives - from succeeding.
What are they concerned about? Drawing these groups and advocates of good government and civil liberties together is the specter of secret government that seems to be a major focus of Bush administration policies.
Under the guise of national security, the Bush administration has been moving to restrict public and media access to information not only about government actions and policies, but about the government's dealings with the private sector. At the same time, the administration's establishment of a new "super snooping" initiative means all bets are off regarding personal privacy. His campaign pledge not withstanding, President Bush has supported the creation of a new government office charged with "mining" all available databases and building dossiers on ordinary Americans.
Despite the law giving oversight of the Government Printing Office to Congress, the Bush administration is continuing its campaign to restrict the public distribution of information that has been the GPO's function for more than 140 years.
In a fundamental challenge to the government's duty to keep citizens informed, the Bush administration is pressing for a system that would allow individual agencies to manage their own electronic databases, overturning the current system in which the work of government agencies is printed by the Government Printing Office and distributed to a network of regional libraries and other outlets and then to the public.
History proves that the executive branch in the past has been reluctant to release and share government documents. Now, the administration wants to limit public access to these documents and to encourage agencies to avoid public requests for information.
The administration couches its arguments in terms of cost, claiming that agencies should control their own printing to save money. But this approach would actually increase the government's costs, in addition to restricting the public's right to know and access to critical information.
In fact, Attorney General John Ashcroft already has advised federal agencies that "protecting sensitive business information" is a valid defense for stonewalling Freedom of Information Act requests.
The law creating the Department of Homeland Security contains some of the broadest assaults on both the disclosure of government information and personal privacy in our nation's history. Included are widespread suspension of the Freedom of Information Act, restrictions on public access to "sensitive but unclassified" information and much leeway for corporate or government operators interested in hiding embarrassing or criminal information.
This law also created the basis for what the Pentagon is calling "total information awareness" about every U.S. citizen, an effort to compile every piece of government and commercial data that exists about each of us. Information on every credit card purchase, every drug prescription, every website visited, every bank transaction made and more will be deposited in a huge database - producing an "electronic dossier" on 300 million Americans - and maintained by the Defense Department.
The bad press this "license to snoop" generated saw the Bush administration scramble to put a better face on the program, but its $200 million budget and its mission to obliterate the privacy rights of ordinary Americans remains.
The free flow of information and a free press are critical to our democracy. Yet another pending Bush administration action will make it easier for single companies to own several media outlets, reviving concerns about news bias, diversity of views and the bottom line getting in the way of full reporting.
A majority of the Federal Communications Commission seems to favor abolishing the government oversight that has blocked this concentration of media ownership. Current FCC rules prohibit a single company from owning a local newspaper and television station in the same community. Ultimately, overturning this rule will mean news controlled by a handful of organizations and differing voices ignored.
CWA is steadfast in its support for the war against terrorism and Al Qaeda. But the principles our country was founded on - the very principles that Al Qaeda wants so much to destroy - cannot be sacrificed or suspended to fit the political agenda of the party in power.
Fortunately, these concerns about the loss of individual privacy, the public's right to know and the ability of a free media to fully and fairly cover the pressing events of the day are getting more attention, and from bipartisan sources. That's what will keep the Bush administration's heavyhanded attempt to control information - and its desire to snoop around in our personal lives - from succeeding.