“Open & Shut”

“Due to the Federal Government shutdown, this National Park Service area is closed, except for 1st Amendment activities.”

– A sign at the National World War II memorial in Washington, D.C., during the government shutdown in October.

“I believe this is a fight for the First Amendment and for the freedom of the press in America. I won’t back down.”

– New York Times reporter James Risen (@JRisen)tweeted on Oct. 14. The next day, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit declined his rehearing request regarding a July ruling that Risen must testify in court about the identity of his confidential source.

“I’m beginning to feel like a drug dealer, [with] the cell phone that I bought with cash or the SIM card that’s not traceable to me.”

– Fox News’ Judith Miller on how the NSA’s secret surveillance has affected her reporting.

“We sometimes find we get far more in the newspapers — we get crossword puzzles as well — we get more in the newspapers than in classified briefings.”

– Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said at a NSA hearing when asked whether a New York Times article about the agency’s use of social network analysis of metadata was accurate.

“We thought maybe the judge would throw it out. We didn’t think the judge would throw us out!”

– Steve Soboroff, owner of Coralville, Iowa radio station KCJJ, on a Johnson County judge barring one of his reporters from covering a misdemeanor assault trial to highlight a case that Soboroff considered a waste of prosecutorial resources.