New York Times Reporter: Obama is the "Greatest Enemy of Press Freedom in a Generation" - Polidicks

[quote=The Guardian]The New York Times reporter James Risen, who faces jail over his refusal to reveal a source and testify against a former CIA agent accused of leaking secrets, has called President Barack Obama "the greatest enemy of press freedom in a generation." Speaking to his colleague Maureen Dowd, Risen accused the president of aggressively pursuing journalists, including himself, who report sensitive stories that reflect poorly on the US government.[/quote] Source: [URL="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/17/james-risen-obama-greatest-enemy-press-freedom-generation"]The Guardian[/URL]

With all the leaks going on I don't think any president would have gone about it differently.

Didn't Obama say that the people in Ferguson are allowed to take pictures and record shit that's happening? Hardly an enemy.

[QUOTE=MightyLOLZOR;45731844]Didn't Obama say that the people in Ferguson are allowed to take pictures and record shit that's happening? Hardly an enemy.[/QUOTE] The difference is that Ferguson has consistently been on national news and has caused riots and garnered a lot of social media attention. The same can't be said for what this journalist is talking about. Also Ferguson is an issue with state and local law enforcement, who knows if he would have still said that if it had been federal.

Yep, biggest enemy of free speech in a generation. Ignoring -Russia -China -North Korea

[QUOTE=MightyLOLZOR;45731844]Didn't Obama say that the people in Ferguson are allowed to take pictures and record shit that's happening? Hardly an enemy.[/QUOTE] Your ignorance is scary

[QUOTE=rider695;45731779]With all the leaks going on I don't think any president would have gone about it differently.[/QUOTE] This doesn't take responsibility off of the Obama administrations' responses but yeah it's more a reaction of the Washington establishment than it is an individual.

While his [i]administration[/i] has had one of the worst spats with press freedom in recent memory, it has nothing to do with the man himself in all probability. He's the president, his name is going to be slapped on everything when regarding to the time under his occupation in office.

[QUOTE=Thlis;45732005]Yep, biggest enemy of free speech in a generation. Ignoring -Russia -China -North Korea[/QUOTE] I think he's only referring to the US

[QUOTE=FlashMarsh;45732098]I think he's only referring to the US[/QUOTE] That's a pretty tiny asterisk for an addendum that big.

[QUOTE=Thlis;45732005]Yep, biggest enemy of free speech in a generation. Ignoring -Russia -China -North Korea[/QUOTE] While you do mean an excellent point, I think he meant threat to free speech in places that actually have it, or more likely just in the US. Admittedly that doesn't make his statement much less dumb, reporters shouldn't act above the law and then hide behind "press freedom" to justify them breaking it.

More whistleblower prosecutions than all recent presidents combined. There really isn't any more that needs to be said than that.

hes not my nigga

Do people fail to understand that before Obama makes any decisions about anything he has more advisors that you can count on two hands telling him why it's both a good and bad idea?

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;45733227]More whistleblower prosecutions than all recent presidents combined. There really isn't any more that needs to be said than that.[/QUOTE] Not really, how many whistleblowers did the previous presidents have to deal with?

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;45733227]More whistleblower prosecutions than all recent presidents combined. There really isn't any more that needs to be said than that.[/QUOTE] Whistleblowers have always faced issues, it comes with the territory. They should just be glad they're not blowing the whistle on corporations. That shit is scary. Every idea of black vans and mysterious calls, that happens when you blow the whistle on corporations. And forget ever getting a job.

[quote]The pursuit of Risen began under the administration of President George W Bush.[/quote] Thanks Obama?

[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;45732089]While his [i]administration[/i] has had one of the worst spats with press freedom in recent memory, it has nothing to do with the man himself in all probability. He's the president, his name is going to be slapped on everything when regarding to the time under his occupation in office.[/QUOTE] This goes for everything, right? I mean, the president as it is, is almost just a puppet. Just a face. Well not to the point of being JUST a puppet, like "DANCE MY PUPPET DANCE", but he does have a shitload of people behind him conntrolling everything he does and regulating and hindering aswell. Hence why he doesn't gets much done. And I'd say any president would have done what he did.

[QUOTE=Thlis;45732005]Yep, biggest enemy of free speech in a generation. Ignoring -Russia -China -North Korea[/QUOTE] The idea that censorship of the press only goes as far as simply outright banning, killing or vilifying journalists is absurd and short-sighted. There are other methods to - not bluntly curb the media - but rather manipulate it in such a way that effectively maintains both credibility and a dictated hidden agenda. The latter of course is obvious censorship, but when you do it cleverly, you get the most effective form of media control and public sway (e.g for every 5 positive articles posted on any given subject, 1 negative article will be posted to deter bias accusations). The intended end-goal of all propaganda-like methods is swaying the intellectuals to your favor, because once you've managed that, convincing the rest is a cakewalk. The practice is extremely common in the west, this phenomena had a name too, but I cant remember it. Although it really shined during Maidan, and then later on - during the current Crimea crisis. The same phenomena was apparent during the Chechen wars as well, Kosovo, Afghanistan, etc.