On Jan. 24, 2003, a new law enforcement and investigatory agency whose duties include functions taken from as many as 22 other federal agencies came into existence. The reorganization of these operations reportedly marks the biggest government bureaucratic shake-up since the creation of the Department of Defense half a century ago.
Even before the new Department of Homeland Security opened its doors, controversies arose over not just how it would operate and exercise its powers, but what level of access to information it would allow, and how it would respond to news media requests. Will new exemptions be carved out of the FOI Act, either by law or by practice? Will officials and agents feel free to tap phones of journalists, or subpoena their records during investigations? Will the new director consider procedural safeguards, like those adopted years ago by the Department of Justice, to ensure that freedom of the press will not be denied? And will those practices be followed?

But "homeland" security is not the only concern for journalists covering anti-terrorism initiatives; military actions abroad often present a greater challenge, as questions over disclosure of information, access to troops, and restraints on reporting seem to resurface anew with each conflict.

Questions and issues like these led the Reporters Committee to launch this "weblog," so that there will be a centralized site on the Internet for journalists who want to follow these issues and pass along information they learn while covering — or worse, being covered by — the new department and other anti-terrorism actions. Please submit comments and pass along tips to make this project as useful, thorough and up-to-date as possible.

A few words about what this project will not do. We do not intend to cover many of the issues that will undoubtedly come up as the Department takes shape, even if those issues are the ones generating headlines. We will cover information access and free press issues, but will not follow debates over many civil liberties issues that, while important, are outside of our domain.

Funding for the launch of this site was provided by The Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation.

Mar. 29, 2007

BLOGGER PLANS TO EMBED WITH MILITARY IN IRAQ. The San Francisco Chronicle has the story of Jane Stillwater, a 64-year-old blogger who left California hoping to embed with the U.S. military in Iraq and blog from Internet cafes there. The self-described "old hippie" has persuaded the Crawford, Texas-based weekly Lone Star Iconoclast to sponsor her. An Army official said Stillwater's embed application looks "fine" but said the military has yet to find a unit in which to place her. — Posted at 3:43 pm

AFGHAN PRESS FACING NEW PRESSURES. The Afghan media - which has grown larger and experienced more freedom since the the fundamentalist Taliban regime fell in 2001 - is now threatened by government and military officials. The Associated Press chronicles new problems, including a proposed law that would allow the jailing of journalists for reporting "humiliating and offensive" news. — Posted at 3:42 pm

Mar. 27, 2007

PROSECUTORS SEEK TO CLOSE PART OF TRIAL. Prosecutors have said they want to close portions of an defense secrets trial to the public during the presentation of a classified document, The New York Sun 's Josh Gerstein reports. In a brief filed last week, prosecutors said they plan to use an unredacted classified booklet as part of their case against Chi Mak, an engineer for a defense contractor who is accused of trying to steal military secrets for China. The brief says the government will advise the court when it plans to use the booklet "so arrangements can be made in advance to clear the courtroom." — Posted at 12:39 pm

SENATOR PUSHES CLASSIFIED TROOP WITHDRAWAL PLAN. In the debate over setting a deadline to withdraw U.S. soldiers from Iraq, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) has proposed a secret deadline known only to Congress, the White House and Iraqi leaders, The Washington Post reports. — Posted at 11:45 am

TILLMAN'S FAMILY SLAMS ARMY REPORT. The family of football player-turned-Army Ranger Pat Tillman, who died by friendly fire in Afghanistan, has rejected a Pentagon report about his death and is calling on the media and Congress to help. The family's statement, which appears on Editor & Publisher, said the incidents chronicled in the inspector general's report are "malfeasance" not "missteps." "The Army continues to deny the family, and the public that pays for the Army with its taxes, access to the original investigation and the sworn statements from that investigation," the family states. Family members say they are being used as "props in a Pentagon public relations exercise" and ask for "the assistance of Congress and the press." — Posted at 11:44 am

REPORT: ARMY MISHANDLED TILLMAN FRIENDLY-FIRE DEATH. Nine military officials, including a three-star general, led Pat Tillman's family to believe he was killed by insurgents in Afghanistan, though they knew shortly after his death that the Army Ranger was probably killed by friendly fire, a Pentagon report reveals. The inspector general found that Army officials instructed senior commanders to warn Pentagon officials and President Bush about the friendly fire investigation to ensure they were careful in public statements but failed to notify the family of the investigation and included misleading information in Tillman's Silver Star recommendation, the Los Angeles Times reports. Officials said the incident illustrates problems with the Army's handling of friendly fire deaths. — Posted at 11:43 am

Mar. 26, 2007

MILITARY TO INVESTIGATE AFGHAN SHOOTING. U.S. military officials have said they will investigate whether American soldiers killed noncombatants after a suicide bombing in Afghanistan, The New York Times reports. The Associated Press has said that soldiers erased still photographs and video of two journalists working for the AP and for Afghan media during the March 4 incident, in which soldiers opened fire after an ambush. — Posted at 11:40 am

DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS QUESTION WHETHER THE CIA'S SECRET PRISON PROGRAM SHOULD CONTINUE. The House and Senate Intelligence Committees are investigating the CIA secret prison program. ''The widespread reports about secret prisons and torture, whether accurate or not, have damaged the United States' reputation around the world and hindered counterterrorism efforts with our allies,'' Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said. — Posted at 10:45 am

Mar. 23, 2007

CIA WITNESS IN PADILLA TRIAL MAY TESTIFY IN DISGUISE. The U.S. government wants a covert CIA operative to wear a wig, eyeglasses and facial hair to disguise his identity when he testifies about a critical piece of evidence against terror defendant Jose Padilla at his federal trial in Miami. — Posted at 7:07 pm

Mar. 22, 2007

FOREIGN JOURNALISTS IN IRAQ NEED VISAS. The Iraqi government now requires foreign journalists to obtain visas before arriving at the Iraqi border or at the Baghdad airport, according to a government statement posted at mediabistro.com. — Posted at 12:02 pm

TALIBAN PRISONERS TRADED FOR KIDNAPPED ITALIAN REPORTER. Italian and Afghan officials have confirmed that a kidnapped Italian newspaper reporter held hostage for 15 days was ransomed for five Taliban prisoners. The State Department and officials from other governments have criticized the move, saying that negotiating with terrorists could encourage other kidnappings. The reporter, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, has said he witnessed the beheading of his driver, one of two Afghan men kidnapped with him. — Posted at 12:00 pm

Mar. 19, 2007

JUDGE ORDERS FURTHER BRIEFING ON MEDIA ACCESS ISSUE IN AIPAC TRIAL. Last week a group of media organizations filed a motion criticizing "the government's apparent request to close" the trial of Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman. A federal judge in Alexandria said that characterizing the government's request as a motion to close the trial was "hyperbolic." However, the judge ordered the prosecutors and defense lawyers to further brief the matter in preparation for a hearing in mid-April. The briefs and the hearing will be accessible to the public. — Posted at 3:46 pm

KIDNAPPED ITALIAN JOURNALIST RELEASED. An Italian journalist who was reportedly kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan has been released. Daniele Mastrogiacomo was kidnapped with two Afghan colleagues on March 5. — Posted at 2:38 pm

Mar. 16, 2007

PLAME TESTIFIES THAT HER IDENTITY WAS "CARELESSLY AND RECKLESSLY" REVEALED. Former CIA Operative Valerie Plame testified before Congress today that government officials "carelessly and recklessly" revealed her undercover status to discredit her husband Joe Wilson, who publicly questioned the administration's case for the war in Iraq. — Posted at 3:02 pm

Mar. 15, 2007

SIDESTEPPING THE PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS ACT WITH OUTSIDE SERVERS? Some of the email messages related to the recent firing of several U.S. attorneys were sent and received by Bush Administration officials using outside servers owned by the Republican National Committee. This raises questions about whether the messages are being properly preserved under the Presidential Records Act. — Posted at 5:27 pm

GOVERNMENT REMOVES MORE THAN A MILLION HISTORIC DOCUMENTS FROM THE ARCHIVES. The government has pulled more than one million pages of previously publicly available documents from the shelves the National Archives since the September 11 attacks. Secrecy News has additional coverage. To test your knowledge of what information the government considers secret, The Associated Press has posted a quiz. — Posted at 4:46 pm

MEDIA FIGHTS TO HAVE ACCESS TO AIPAC LOBBYISTS' TRIAL. A group of media organizations filed a motion late Tuesday criticizing "the government's apparent request to close" the trial of Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman. A federal judge in Alexandria ordered the prosecutors and defense lawyers to further brief the matter in preparation for a hearing in mid-April. The briefs and the hearing will be accessible to the public. — Posted at 2:57 pm

Mar. 14, 2007

HOUSE PASSES FOIA AMENDMENTS. Today the House of Representatives passed the Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 2007 by a 308-117 vote. The White House has signaled its intention to veto the bill. — Posted at 5:27 pm

DELAY IN RELEASE OF JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FOIA GUIDE PROMPTING QUESTIONS. Questions are being raised about the Department of Justice's failure to make available an updated version of its FOIA guide, which was originally projected to be released in November 2006. According to a report by Rebecca Carr of Cox Newspapers , the guide was compete and sent to the government printer late last year, but an unnamed official has put a hold on its release. Melanie Ann Pustay, the acting director of the DOJ's Office of Information and Privacy, testified under oath at a recent House subcommittee meeting that the guide "was not ready to go" and that estimates the fact that the guide has missed its deadline for release was due to "overly optimistic" forecasts. However, Dan Metcalfe, Pustay's predecessor at the DOJ OIP, said Pustay's assertions were "baseless" and "grossly disappointing, given the actual facts of the matter." — Posted at 5:26 pm

SECRET HEARINGS HELD AT GUATANAMO. Hearings were held to determine the status of several terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay. The hearings are closed to the public. DOD officials say that redacted transcripts of the hearings will be released. — Posted at 1:29 pm

Mar. 12, 2007

WAXMAN MIGHT REQUEST TESTIMONY OF ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS ABOUT CIA LEAK CASE. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D.-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, may call members of the Bush Administration to testify about their roles in the leak of the name of former CIA agent Valerie Plame. — Posted at 4:49 pm

DAVIS SAYS FBI WON'T SHARE INFORMATION ON ITS LEAK INVESTIGATIONS. Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), the ranking minority member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is accusing the FBI of stonewalling his request for information on how the agency has investigated recent leaks of classified information. Josh Gerstein of the New York Sun reports on the letter Davis sent to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, complaining about the FBI's lack of cooperation. — Posted at 2:40 pm

BIPARTISAN CRITICISM AIMED AT FBI OVER MISUSE OF PATRIOT ACT. Members of both political parties have assailed the FBI's misuse of National Security Letters, with some lawmakers threatening to amend the USA Patriot Act to scale back the FBI's power in this area. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is among those calling for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The Wall Street Journal editorial board says an incompetent Department of Justice is undermining the case for strong executive branch power. — Posted at 2:39 pm

MANY AGENCIES ARE IGNORING E-FOIA, AUDIT FINDS. An audit by the National Security Archive details how various government agencies are ignoring the 1996 amendments to FOIA (dubbed "E-FOIA") that require various information be made available online. NASA is among the most compliant with E-FOIA, while the Department of Defense is one of the worst offenders. — Posted at 11:06 am

ITALY WANTS TO KNOW KIDNAPPED REPORTER IS ALIVE. Italian officials want to ensure a reporter who was kidnapped in Afghanistan is alive before they will start negotiations for his release. Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Daniele Mastrogiacomo, a reporter with the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica, was taken along with two Afghan citizens last week. — Posted at 11:05 am

MILITARY: SOLDIER JUSTIFIED ERASING FOOTAGE. An American military official said a soldier was justified in deleting photos and videotape of a suicide bombing and shooting in Afghanistan taken by two journalists working for The Associated Press. Footage taken by "untrained people" might "capture visual details that are not as they originally were," a military official wrote in a letter to AP. AP's editor said that was not a "reasonable justification" and said journalists should be able to work without interference. — Posted at 11:04 am

Mar. 9, 2007

OBEY TRIES TO ROOT OUT LEAKERS ON THE HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE. Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.) was so tired of leaks out of his Appropriations Committee that he fed bad informantion to his colleagues to try to single out who was talking to the press. According to Al Kamen at the Washington Post : "Asked who the suspects were, Obey spokeswoman Kirsten Brost said she had asked Obey but 'he told me not to leak that information.'" — Posted at 1:35 pm

FBI MISUSING POWER TO ISSUE NATIONAL SECURITY LETTERS. According to an Inspector General report, the FBI is misusing its power to issue so-called National Security Letters, which allow investigators to obtain private information about individuals without first obtaining the permission of a judge. — Posted at 1:34 pm

Mar. 7, 2007

PRESS BANNED FROM ATTENDING GITMO HEARINGS. Reporters will be barred from hearings that begin Friday in Guantanamo for 14 terror suspects transferred last year from secret CIA prisons, officials said Tuesday. — Posted at 10:45 am

Mar. 6, 2007

LIBBY CONVICTED ON FOUR COUNTS. I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has been found guilty on four of the five charges of lying about his role in the leaking the identity of a covert CIA agent, ending a trial that saw journalists parading to the witness stand. — Posted at 4:24 pm

Mar. 5, 2007

COURT SAYS FORMER DETAINEE'S LAWSUIT WILL REVEAL STATE SECRETS. A federal appeals court panel has ruled that Khaled el-Masri, a German man who claims the CIA tortured him in an Afghan prison, cannot proceed with his lawsuit because of the danger that state secrets might be revealed. El-Masri has asserted that because of extensive news reporting on the CIA's foreign interrogation programs, there is no danger of revealing state secrets. — Posted at 2:18 pm

NBC ANCHOR REPORTING FROM IRAQ. NBC News anchor Brian Williams is anchoring the news from Iraq, the first network news anchor to report from Iraq since ABC's Bob Woodruff was seriously injured by a roadside bomb early last year. — Posted at 2:18 pm

JOURNALISTS: MILITARY DELETED PHOTOS, VIDEO. U.S. troops deleted images taken by photographers covering the aftermath of a suicide bombing and shooting and warned them not to publish photos and video of American soldiers or a car where Afghans were shot to death, Afghan journalists told The Associated Press. A freelance photographer working for AP and a cameraman involved was working for AP Television News said a soldier deleted photos and video showing a vehicle in which three people were shot to death near the bombing. The AP plans to lodge a complaint with the military. — Posted at 2:17 pm

Mar. 2, 2007

ADMINISTRATION TACTICS AGAINST SHIITE ORGANIZATIONS NOT BEING REPORTED TO CONGRESS. In the latest New Yorker, Seymour Hersh reports on how the Bush Administration is teaming with Sunni governments to undermine Shiite organizations like Hezbollah in an attempt to counter the influence of Shiite Iran has gained in the Middle East following the U.S. invasion of Iraq. According to Hersh, these covert efforts have not been reported to Congress, which for some brings back memories of the Iran-Contra scandal. — Posted at 4:50 pm

Mar. 1, 2007

SENATOR'S ANTI-LEAK AMENDMENT NOT DISCUSSED. The Senate Judiciary Committee today postponed discussion of a federal data mining bill, which meant senators did not talk about a proposed amendment by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) that would criminalize leaks of classified information about counterterrorism techniques - creating the U.S. equivalent of an Official Secrets Act, media groups say. Kyl's spokesman tells Cox Newspapers' Rebecca Carr that the proposed amendment was misunderstood and not meant to target the media. Kyl is expected to meet with the bill's sponsor, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), before the bill is discussed next week. — Posted at 5:22 pm

JOURNALISTS GROUP: MILITARY MORE RELUCTANT TO ALLOW PRESS ACCESS. The president of Military Reporters and Editors says that a crackdown on soldiers talking to the press is not limited to Walter Reed Medical Center, which Army Times reported on this week. James Crawley tells Editor & Publisher that military officials are making it "harder and harder" to interview soldiers on the bases, not letting reporters inside unless they are sure they are there for an "absolutely positively good news story." — Posted at 2:13 pm