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Whistleblowers get organised
142/MEDIA MONITOR
The Truth-Telling Project was a project initiated by Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers about US involvement in Vietnam. The project's focus was on the USA, and particularly the Bush administration, and it urged 'current and recently retired government officials to reveal the truth to Congress and the public about governmental wrongdoing, lies and cover-up.The project argued that the dominant theme of the Bush administration is 'cover-up on urgent matters of life and death. Cover-up of the real motives for the war on Iraq. Cover-up of Presidential inattention before 9/11 to warnings of imminent attacks by Al Qaeda. Above all concealment of the judgement by the Administration's own counter-terrorism chiefs that war in Iraq is a disaster for the war on terrorism…It is time for truth-telling.'
Now the project has taken on a broader, international perspective, with the formation of the Truth-Telling Coalition. One of the key figures in this country is Katharine Gun who worked as a translator at the government's GCHQ monitoring centre in Cheltenham. She was put on trial at the Old Bailey, charged under the Official Secrets Act for revealing American plans to bug the phones of delegates to the United Nations Security Council in the run up to the vote on a second resolution for action on Iraq. She claimed the email, which she leaked to The Observer in January 2003 was from US spies asking British officers to tap the phones of nations voting on war against Iraq. The charges against her were dropped in February 2004 because the prosecution offered no evidence.
In a thoughtful Comment piece in The Observer (19/9/4) she explained the sorts of pressures on her as a result of her decision to leak the email. It was, she explained, 'a huge decision I took which led to me being arrested, my house searched, being sacked, and finally charged.'
Now she believes the coalition will make it easier for people to speak out. 'Here in the UK we will be campaigning for a fundamental reform of the Official Secrets Act. It must be changed to distinguish between espionage breaches which genuinely endanger national security and public-spirited whistle-blowing,' she said.
Last modified: Wednesday, November 17, 2004
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Notices
Events & Announcements
World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
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DATELINE: 26/3/10
Download Freepress in PDF, ePub or mobi format. Issue 194 now available.
MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Papers from the Media for All Conference
MEDIA MANIFESTO
DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
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Previous stories
Miscellany
Obituary: Paul Foot
Broadcasting: the European dimension
NUJ launches PR guidelines
Toxic Sludge
1979, trade unions and journalism
Silvio Berlusconi: Television, Power and Patrimony by Paul Ginsborg, Verso £16.00
Support the European Social Forum
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Free Press 116 - complete contents
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IFJ Condemns Israeli Twists and Turns of Justice as Banned British Journalist is Forced to Return Home
CPBF Condemns "Bizarre Judgement" in Ewa Case
Ewa Wins Appeal - Still Detained
Privacy and accountability
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