View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Archive content
May 10, 2006updated 22 Nov 2022 7:13pm

Bush’s ‘war on the press’

By Press Gazette

The
American Government’s campaign against leaks to the Press is expanding. It’s no
longer just about terrorism, the treatment of Iraqi prisoners or illicit
eavesdropping. It has expanded to stories about the illegal use of drugs by
American baseball players. Two reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle ,
Lance Williams and Mark
Fainaru-Wada,
have been subpoenaed to reveal the source of stories they wrote
about a secret investigation into the use of steroids by two well-known
American baseball players.

Legal
experts regard it as a new escalation of the Bush administration’s war against
the Press. The new case has nothing to do with national security. And nothing
like it has happened before, legal experts say. It is, they say, an example of
the White House zero tolerance to leaks to the press. It is also being compared
to the efforts by the FBI to search the files of Jack Anderson, the renowned
columnist who died last year. Anderson
was regarded as a thorn in the side of former FBI chief J Edgar Hoover. Many American
journalists point out that leaks have been commonplace for decades. But no-one
in the past has taken them so seriously. The San Francisco Chronicle even went
to so far in an angry editorial to describe the new move as part of a “war on
the press” The paper said it would support its reporters who, it insisted, had
done nothing wrong. Certainly nothing criminal. Although the efforts to curb
the American press are seen by some as bluster – there are some who are not so
sure. They fear the intimidation.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network