In the Name of Security Secrecy, Surveillance and Journalism

Description

An assessment of the impact of surveillance and other security measures on in-depth public interest journalism

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on 11 September 2001 saw the start of the so-called war on terror. The aim of ‘In the Name of Security – Secrecy, Surveillance and Journalism’is to assess the impact of surveillance and other security measures on in-depth public interest journalism. How has the global fear-driven security paradigm sparked by 11 September affected journalism? Moves by governments to expand the powers of intelligence and security organizations and legislate for the retention of personal data for several years have the potential to stall investigative journalism. Such journalism, with its focus on accountability and scrutiny of powerful interests in society, is a pillar of democracy.

Investigative journalism informs society by providing information that enables citizens to have input into democratic processes. But will whistleblowers acting in public interest in future contact reporters if they risk being exposed by state and corporate surveillance? Will journalists provide fearless coverage of security issues when they risk jail for reporting them?

At the core of ‘In the Name of Security – Secrecy, Surveillance and Journalism’ sits what the authors have labeled the ‘trust us dilemma’. Governments justify passing, at times, oppressive and far-reaching anti-terror laws to keep citizens safe from terror. By doing so governments are asking the public to trust their good intentions and the integrity of the security agencies. But how can the public decide to trust the government and its agencies if it does not have access to information on which to base its decision?

‘In the Name of Security – Secrecy, Surveillance and Journalism’ takes an internationally comparative approach using case studies from the powerful intelligence-sharing group known as the Five Eyes consisting of the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Chapters assessing a selection of EU countries and some of the BRICS countries provide additional and important points of comparison to the English-speaking countries that make up the Five Eyes.

The core questions in the book are investigated and assessed in the disciplines of journalism studies, law and international relations. The topics covered include an overview and assessment of the latest technological developments allowing the mass surveillance of large populations including the use of drones (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles).

Introduction, Johan Lidberg and Denis Muller; Chapter 1. The Public Privacy Conundrum – Anonymity and the Law in an Era of Mass Surveillance, Moira Paterson; Chapter 2. ‘Undesirable Types’ – The Surveillance of Journalists, Fay Anderson; Chapter 3. Surveillance and National Security ‘Hyper-Legislation’ – Calibrating Restraints on Rights with a Freedom of Expression Threshold, Mark Pearson and Joseph M Fernandez; Chapter 4. The Ethics of Reporting National Security Matters, Bill Birnbauer and Denis Muller; Chapter 5. When One Person’s Noble Whistleblower Becomes Another’s Poisonous Leaker, Matthew Ricketson; Chapter 6. Who Watches the Watchmen? Access to Information, Accountability and Government Secrecy, Johan Lidberg; Chapter 7. Eyes and Ears in the Sky – Drones and Mass Surveillance, Trevor McCrisken; Chapter 8. Looking over My Shoulder – Public Perceptions of Surveillance, Denis Muller, Johan Lidberg and Michael Budinski; Chapter 9. Journalism and National Security in Three BISA Countries – Brazil, India and South Africa, Débora Medeiros, Alam Srinivas and Tinus De Jager; Chapter 10. Journalism and National Security in the European Union, Johan Lidberg and Denis Muller; Chapter 11. The Security Reporter Today – Journalists and Journalism in an Age of Surveillance, Stephanie Brookes; Conclusion. Journalism and the State of Exception, Johan Lidberg and Denis Muller; List of Contributors; Index.

Sujets

• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• Political opportunity
• Civil and political rights
• Media studies

Informations

• Publié par: Anthem Press
• Date de parution: 15 mai 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783087716
• Langue: English

Extrait

In the Name of Security – Secrecy, Surveillance and Journalism
In the Name of Security – Secrecy, Surveillance and Journalism
Edited by
Johan Lidberg and Denis Muller
Anthem Press
An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company
www.anthempress.com

This edition first published in UK and USA 2018
by ANTHEM PRESS
75–76 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA, UK
or PO Box 9779, London SW19 7ZG, UK
and
244 Madison Ave #116, New York, NY 10016, USA

© 2018 Johan Lidberg and Denis Muller editorial matter and selection;
individual chapters © individual contributors

The moral right of the authors has been asserted.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above,
no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise),
without the prior written permission of both the copyright
owner and the above publisher of this book.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN-13: 978-1-78308-769-3 (Hbk)
ISBN-10: 1-78308-769-2 (Hbk)

This title is also available as an e-book.
CONTENTS
List of Tables Introduction Johan Lidberg and Denis Muller The Role of Journalism in Liberal Democracies Approach and Methodology The Five Eyes Further Points of Comparison The Tshwane Principles Axis of Deceit Overview of the Book References Chapter 1. The Public Privacy Conundrum – Anonymity and the Law in an Era of Mass Surveillance Moira Paterson Introduction The Technological Threats The Limitations of Laws That Regulate Surveillance Australia Canada New Zealand United Kingdom United States The Practical Implications for Journalists Conclusion References Chapter 2. Undesirable Types – The Surveillance of Journalists Fay Anderson Introduction The ‘Nuisance’ ‘A Man to be Checked’ The Cold War and ‘Communist Stuff’ The File as Biography Conclusion References Chapter 3. Surveillance and National Security ‘Hyper-Legislation’ – Calibrating Restraints on Rights with a Freedom of Expression Threshold Mark Pearson and Joseph M. Fernandez Introduction Background: The National Security Hyper-Legislative Threat to Free Expression Free Expression in International Human Rights Instruments and Five Eyes Constitutions Case Study: The Australian Situation Case Study: National Security ‘Hyper-Legislation’ in Australia Special Recognition for Journalists and Media through Shield Laws Surveillance and Journalists’ Sources – International and Australian Research Conclusion References Chapter 4. The Ethics of Reporting National Security Matters Denis Muller and Bill Birnbauer Introduction A Definitional Challenge Case Study: The Australian and Counterterrorism Conclusion References Chapter 5. When One Person’s Noble Whistleblower Becomes Another’s Poisonous Leaker Matthew Ricketson Introduction Journalist–Source Relationships Case Studies Discussion Conclusion References Chapter 6. Who Watches the Watchmen? Access to Information, Accountability and Government Secrecy Johan Lidberg Introduction The Evolution of Freedom of Information Case Studies Discussion Conclusion References Chapter 7. Eyes and Ears in the Sky – Drones and Mass Surveillance Trevor McCrisken Introduction Drones, Drones Everywhere Reporting Drones Conclusion: Drone Journalism and the Future Normalisation of the Eyes in the Sky? References Chapter 8. Looking over My Shoulder – Public Perceptions of Surveillance Denis Muller, Johan Lidberg and Mikayla Alexis Budinski Introduction Background And Then There Was 9/11 Conclusion References Chapter 9. Journalism and National Security in Three BISA Countries – Brazil, India and South Africa Alam Srinivas, Débora Medeiros and Tinus De Jager Introduction Brazil India South Africa Conclusion Concerning the BISA Countries Acknowledgements References Chapter 10. Journalism and National Security in the European Union Johan Lidberg and Denis Muller Introduction Information Access in the EU Case Studies Discussion Conclusion References Chapter 11. The Security Reporter Today – Journalists and Journalism in an Age of Surveillance Stephanie Brookes Introduction Security Reporters and the Interpretive Community of Australian Journalism Discursive Strategies and the Construction of Journalism Taking Australia into a Reign of Terror: Journalism, Democracy and National Security Journalists and Journalism in the Five Eyes Network Conclusion: Freedom, Risk and Security – The Security Reporter Today References Conclusion: Journalism and the State of Exception Johan Lidberg and Denis Muller Five Eyes Compared The Tshwane Principles – The Way Ahead The Open Government Partnership The Rise and Rule of President Donald Trump Never-Ending State of Exception? References
Contributors
Index
TABLES
0.1 The main security and intelligence agencies in the Five Eyes group
6.1 FOI laws compared access to intelligence and security agencies
10.1 Total annual number of FOI requests, federal Act
10.2 The Five Eyes countries and the EU, Denmark and Germany
INTRODUCTION
Johan Lidberg and Denis Muller

So where we are now is in a place where we’re living behind one-way mirrors. Corporate America and law enforcement and the national security state know so much about us and we know so little about them. We know so little about what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. And we can’t actually hold our government accountable because we truly don’t know what it’s doing. (Smith 2014 , interview with Barton Gellman, journalist, Washington Post )
In the ongoing stream of events that we call history, there are events that challenge established paradigms and force a shift in the flow of history. The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 was one such event. The attacks on US soil by an international network of terrorists arguably provoked the greatest change in the conduct of Western democracy since the end of World War II. Simultaneously, it had an impact on global politics similar in scope to the end of the Cold War, which was marked by the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
These two events promised very different futures. The end of the Cold War promised a new, more open and peaceful world order, characterised by the democratisation of the former eastern European bloc and the end of the nuclear-deterrence mindset known as mutually assured destruction (MAD). This atmosphere of promise was abruptly shattered by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Those events unleashed an entirely new series of wars, most of which continue to the present day. They began in 2003 as a war of pre-emption engaged in by the United States against Iraq, and continued in 2005 as a war of retribution against Afghanistan for suspected harbouring of the terrorist leaders responsible for the 9/11 attacks – particularly Osama bin Laden, the figurehead of the terrorist network al-Qaeda. These missions were launched under the political slogan the ‘war on terror’, and pushed the world into a new, fear-driven security paradigm (Schmitt 2005 ).
The start of the war on terror took domestic, international and legal affairs in a new direction. The challenge of keeping citizens safe from real and perceived terror threats shifted the balance between traditional liberal democratic freedoms and the protection of nations from terrorism. This meant, in most Western democracies, extending the powers of the state security apparatus at the expense of civil liberties. Some argue that this shift in balance, manifested by the unprecedented increase in anti-terror and security legislation globally, has pushed the liberal democratic world into an ongoing state of exception/emergency (Agamben 2005 ).
The main focus of this book is on the question of striking a balance between national security and liberal democratic freedoms and rights, such as the right to privacy, access to information, freedom of the media and a transparent and open government. A close inspection into how this balance is now being struck reveals that governments around the world are asking their citizens to trust that what the government is doing to keep citizens safe justifies the infringement of civil liberties. We call this the ‘trust us dilemma’, and it will be a recurring theme in this book. The dilemma is defined as the conflict between the core task of governments in providing security for their citizens, and the public’s freedoms and rights in liberal democracies. For democracies to function well, citizens need wide-ranging access to information. They need this in order to meaningfully participate in the political system and to hold their elected representatives to account. But when it comes to security and intelligence, broad information-sharing and access may jeopardise the objective of keeping citizens safe. Governments and security agencies have addressed this by asking the public to trust them, but what is that trust to be based on if the citizens are denied sufficient information about what is being done in the name of security? How can citizens judge whether the means are justified by reference to democratic norms without that key information? Therein lies the dilemma.
We have chosen the lens of investigative journalism to interrogate the dilemma. The core question is this: What effect has the current state of exception/emergency had on journalism and its role as an independent watchdog of the security powers of the stat