A Culture of Secrecy
What has happened to the principle that American democracy should be accessible and transparent?
By Charles Lewis
WASHINGTON, February 3, 2005 — In the world's oldest democracy, pressure on investigative journalists is usually exerted in sophisticated, non-lethal ways, under the public radar. Every day in Washington, D.C., thousands of government and corporate public relations flaks and lobbyists purvey their "talking points" with a friendly smile, no matter how odious the client, no matter how intellectually dishonest or morally dubious their message. Journalists must trudge through the shameless "spin"-that vanilla word admiringly used these days instead of "lying," which has a harshly judgmental, jarringly rude ring in Washington power circles. Read the rest at the Center for Public Integrity web site: http://www.publicintegrity.org/ga/report.aspx?aid=649
copyright Virginia Metze
By Charles Lewis
WASHINGTON, February 3, 2005 — In the world's oldest democracy, pressure on investigative journalists is usually exerted in sophisticated, non-lethal ways, under the public radar. Every day in Washington, D.C., thousands of government and corporate public relations flaks and lobbyists purvey their "talking points" with a friendly smile, no matter how odious the client, no matter how intellectually dishonest or morally dubious their message. Journalists must trudge through the shameless "spin"-that vanilla word admiringly used these days instead of "lying," which has a harshly judgmental, jarringly rude ring in Washington power circles. Read the rest at the Center for Public Integrity web site: http://www.publicintegrity.org/ga/report.aspx?aid=649
copyright Virginia Metze
Starmail - 8. Feb, 22:17
