Associated Press President

Tom Curley calls for media to fight "official secrecy". He denounced increased official secrecy. He unveiled a plan for a media advocacy center to lobby in Washington, DC. for open government. "The powerful have to be watched and we are the watchers". "At every level of government records are being sealed and requests for information are being denied. Courts are sealing documents and imposing gag orders. There is more but I don't have time to copy it. This is very serious because the AP usually sides with the republicans. If this is in the wrong forum I am sorry put it where you think best.

Start spreading jelly on George.

And the orders that created Dimbo's "secure" environment: http://www.fas.org/sgp/bush/index.html

lately, (so much BS, so little time)and the list just continues to grow. I can't (well yes I can) believe the media has been rolling over on this crap for so long.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/peninsula/8619334.htm?1c


AP president proposes media lobby to fight government secrecy

LINDA DEUTSCH

Associated Press


RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Denouncing increased official secrecy, Associated Press President and CEO Tom Curley unveiled a plan Friday for a media advocacy center to lobby in Washington for open government.

"The powerful have to be watched, and we are the watchers," Curley said, "and you don't need to have your notebook snatched by a policeman to know that keeping an eye on government activities has lately gotten a lot harder."

At every level of government, records are being sealed and requests for information denied, and courts are imposing gag orders and sealing documents, Curley said, speaking in the Hays Press-Enterprise Lecture series.

<snip>
But Curley warned that a continued relaxation of vigilance by news organizations "could become a dangerous habit if we allow it to take hold, dangerous for us and the society in which we play such a critical role."

noway@nohow.com
nopassword

thanks for the link!

they'll give you free email/password combos to use, if any have been registered there.

:eyes:

The timing is telling. Up to now all the press releases have leaned GOP and WH except when obvious facts speak for themselves. Their little unsourced blurbs create more propaganda damage than the rest of the newspaper. It has become more pressured and obvious as Bush becomes desperate. They have been led in a conduit of dried up sources and WH feeds to become a target of media reform or complete absorption into a fascist propaganda machine.

And Bush is losing. They are jumping ship or at least signaling.

It may be that the present situation is worse than- last month say, but this disingenuous complaint is a welcome sign.

By the time this noble man gets what he wants of course, it will be access to any source of info that can hurt the Dems and Pres. Kerry.

They have no interest in going after Bush. They are preparing for when Kerry wins so they can trash him in ways that makes what they did to Clinton look tame.

~snip~
Curley cited recent intrusions on information-gathering. They ranged from an AP reporter's digital recording being erased by a U.S. marshal at a speech by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to a confrontation between a sheriff's deputy and a freelance photographer on assignment for the AP outside a Michael Jackson grand jury hearing. The photographer deleted digital images after being ordered to do so by the deputy.

``The point I want to make with these brief examples is an elemental one: The government's power is overwhelming. Its agents are armed and authorized to use force if they have to,'' Curley said.

~snip~

Meanwhile, he said, AP will continue audits to ensure official compliance with FOI laws. State AP bureau chiefs will monitor the status of still and video cameras in state and federal courtrooms, and legal challenges will be mounted when access is denied.

``News is our business. We are the watchers,'' Curley said. ``Open government is the personal interest and constitutional right of every citizen. But we of the fourth estate have by far the greatest means and incentive to speak and fight for it.''

~snip~
more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4065569,00.html

...so you don't have to register at the Times Mercury:

http://www.ap.org/pages/about/whatsnew/hayspress.html

This new lobbying group will probably open for business on the day Kerry takes office.

Fucking hypocrites should have been doing this while Bush was screwing the country!

That is after Bush.

http://www.apbroadcast.com/AP+Broadcast/About+Us/Press+Releases/General/AP's+Accurate+Election+Night+Coverage+Speaks+for+Itself.htm

Remember when all the networks took back their prediction that Gore had won Florida, and then reported that Bush had won? The Associated Press never declared Bush the winner that night. When the media moguls were called before Congress to issue their official apologies for screwing up on election night, the AP chief proudly reported that they had never proclaimed Bush the winner in the first place so they had nothing to apologize for! As far as I know, they still haven't reported that Bush won. Tee hee...