New Report Finds Obamas Policies Threaten an Independent PressRainey Reitman The report paints a picture of increasing press restrictions beginning just after 9/11 and culminating with the current administration, which is described as uniquely resistant to accountability to the press. Written by former executive editor of the Washington Post Leonard Downie Jr and CPJs Sara Rafsky, the report relied on information gathered through extensive interviews with dozens of members of the press. Individual journalists are cited throughout to provide candid insights into the daily experiences of journalists in the United States today. In total, the report and the concomitant recommendations show that Obama Administration policies around classification, whistle-blower prosecution, and surveillance are threatening investigative journalism. Among several issues the report surfaced, the authors heavily criticized Obamas record on classification. They called on Obama to do more to correct the problems of overclassification, citing concerns raised by Senator Ron Wyden and transparency advocate Steven Aftergood. The report discussed how, despite Obamas promises of embracing transparency when he first took office, Freedom of Information Act requests frequently were left unanswered, delayed, or denied. By 2011, more than 4 million Americans had security clearances for access to classified information of one kind or another, according to a U. S. Intelligence Community report to Congress required by the 2010 Intelligence Authorization Act, and more and more information was being classified as secret. In that year alone, government employees made 92 million decisions to classify informationone measure of what [Harvard Law School professor Jack] Goldsmith called massive, massive over-classification. In addition, the report detailed the aggressive overprosecution of whistle-blowers under the Obama administration. The report noted that Obamas administration had charged six government employees and two contractorsincluding Edward Snowden with felony criminal prosecutions under the 1917 Espionage Act for leaking information to the press. This is more than all of such prosecutions in all previous U.S. administrations. The report discussed at length individual prosecutions as well the fact that government officials were fearful and reluctant to speak with the media. There were also numerous examples of the government getting subpoenas to learn more about journalists communicating with sources. CPJ also noted that extensive surveillance by the NSA, which has recently been confirmed and detailed by the Edward Snowden leaks, have added to the fearful atmosphere surrounding contacts between American journalists and government sources. The NSAs dragnet data collection programs left many journalists with doubts about their ability to protect their sources or conduct investigations. Washington Post national security reporter Dana Priest noted that, People think theyre looking at reporters records. Im writing fewer things in e-mail. Im even afraid to tell officials what I want to talk about because its all going into one giant computer. CPJ also released a series of recommendations to the Obama Administration, including a call to end the practice of bringing espionage charges against people who leak classified information to journalists and more transparency around the scope and nature of the National Security Agency and other surveillance activities as they are being applied to domestic and international journalists. Overall, CPJs report describes a government actively avoiding accountability and transparency while enacting policies that undermine an independent media. The real victim of such policies is the general public, which relies on an informed media to hold government officials to account. We echo CPJs concerns and urge the administration to act swiftly to address the serious issues of press freedom that were outlined in the report. 