Secrecy

Whose History Is It, Anyway?

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"Newspapers may provide a rough draft of history, but archives are where the raw materials are stored," writes Celestine Bohlen. "And so when politicians start messing around with public archives, historians -- and, of course, archivists -- can be counted on to rise up in arms." She details the outrage of historians when former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in his final days in office decided to move the public records out of City Hall and into a private warehouse. And Giuliani isn't alone.

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Main Source: 
New York Times, February 24, 2002
Topics: 
Secrecy

Coyote Rummy

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

The U.S. has imposed more restrictions on reporters in Afghanistan than in any previous U.S. war, but Hollywood has carte blanche to make feel-good "reality TV" shows about the adventure. Maureen Dowd notes that that the Pentagon is teaming with Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of "Top Gun," "Black Hawk Down," "Pearl Harbor" and "Coyote Ugly," along with Bertram van Munster of "Cops," to make a TV docudrama about the war on terrorism. "I'm outraged about the Hollywoodization of the military," says Dan Rather.

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Main Source: 
New York Times, February 24, 2002
Topics: 
Arts / Culture
Secrecy
U.S. Government
War / Peace

Secrecy and Science

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"Science has now become the leading edge of the [Bush Administration's] crackdown on public access to government information," according to the New York Times. The Administration has withdrawn from public access over 6,600 technical reports concerning biological and chemical weapons production on grounds that they might help terrorists or others develop weapons of mass destruction. The Bush Administration is also calling upon scientific societies to impose limits on their scientific publications.

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Main Source: 
New York Times, February 17, 2002
Topics: 
Science
Secrecy
U.S. Government

Hiding in Plain Sight

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

The records of other Texas governors are stored at the Texas State Library and Archives, but George W. Bush has placed his papers at his father's presidential library at Texas A&M University, thereby "putting them in the hands of a federal institution that is not ordinarily bound by the state's tough Public Information Act," reports the New York Times. "That law, among other things, assures anyone who requests state records a reply within 10 days.

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Main Source: 
New York Times, February 11, 2002
Topics: 
Secrecy

Shredding is Good

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

In response to reports of illegal shredding of documents related to the Enron collapse, the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) (yes, it's a real organization) has issued a news release which says that "the overwhelming majority of document destruction that takes place on a daily basis is done so quite appropriately and for the cause of good." NAID, whose member companies are in the business of document destruction, characterizes the behavior of employees at Enron and Arthur Andersen as "unfortunate," but says that

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Main Source: 
http://www.naidonline.org/latest.pdf
Topics: 
Secrecy

Shhhh....

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Journalists and advocates of open govermment are dismayed as U.S. state governments weigh proposals to clamp down on the public's access to government documents and meetings, driven by worries that terrorists could use the information. States that have passed or are considering measures to limit public access include Florida, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Tennessee and Washington.

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Main Source: 
Associated Press, February 5, 2002
Topics: 
Secrecy

US Energy Department Attacks Whistleblowers

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

The Project on Government Oversight has issued a report on reprisals and retaliation against whistleblowers at the U.S. Department of Energy. "Retaliation at DOE does not necessarily entail attempting to fire federal employees," it states. "In the majority of cases in the security area, DOE supervisors attempt to revoke the whistleblower's clearance on trumped-up charges. Then they remove them from any responsibility for oversight of security. On the other hand, contractors often lose their contracts, or their jobs, for blowing the whistle. ...

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Main Source: 
TomPaine.com
Topics: 
Ethics
Secrecy
U.S. Government

Monsanto Hid Decades of Pollution

Submitted by Laura Miller on

Washington Post reporter Michael Grunwald uncovers a decades-long campaign by Monsanto to hide its extremely toxic PCB pollution in Anniston, Alabama. Monsanto held a monopoly on PCB production in the United States until they stopped making them in 1977. For nearly 40 years while producing PCBs at the Anniston plant, Grunwald reports, Monsanto knew that the PCBs they were dumping into an Anniston creek and open-pit landfills were toxic and they concealed that knowledge.

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Main Source: 
Washington Post, December 31, 2001
Topics: 
Corporations
Environment
Secrecy

Can What We Know Hurt Us?

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

If you want to know if any toxic wastes dumps are near where you might soon buy a home, you can no longer find out. If you want to know just what is really being done to keep nuclear power plants safe, you can no longer find out. If you are interested in the design and construction of dams, you probably will not be able to get any information about them from the government any more. If you want to visit the reading rooms provided by many government agencies, such as the IRS, you now must make an appointment, and you will be chaperoned.

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Main Source: 
Los Angeles Times, November 18, 2001
Topics: 
Democracy
Secrecy
U.S. Government

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