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Reports emerged last week that the Depart­ment of Jus­tice had secretly obtained two months’ worth of phone records of jour­nal­ists at The Asso­ci­ated Press as part of a larger inves­ti­ga­tion into a failed al-​​Qaida plot. The news sent shock­waves through the news industry and put the Obama admin­is­tra­tion on the defen­sive. Pulitzer Prize winner Walter Robinson, Dis­tin­guished Pro­fessor of Jour­nalism in the Col­lege of Arts, Media and Design and a cur­rent Pulitzer juror, explains how this news is indica­tive of ongoing ten­sions between the fed­eral gov­ern­ment and the press, and what that means for the Amer­ican public.

1. The Department of Justice’s investigation into the AP stems from a 2012 report on a bombing plot last year involving the Yemen arm of al-Qaida. How do news organizations balance publishing classified information with government concerns about national security?

There’s always a tension, particularly in the area of national security, between the public’s right to know and the government’s need to keep certain things secret. But most people, and certainly everyone in Washington, know that most things that are classified really have no need to be.

People in power—including the White House—discuss and disclose classified information all the time. When it suits them and their agenda, people in government are more than happy to leak details with little or no consideration that they’re breaking the law as much as someone who is leaking really sensitive information. But when someone leaks information that makes them look bad and which wasn’t authorized, that’s when the government engages in what I consider to be a reckless effort toward tracking down the source of the leak. Not only does this kind of government action deter whistleblowers, but it also deters news organizations and reporters, who now face the prospect of jail time for simply doing their jobs.

Specific to this AP story, there wasn’t even a national security concern: The AP held its story until the government had assured them that it wouldn’t do any harm. It’s not like they were racing into this recklessly. And that’s how every case that I know of in recent years has gone. The New York Times, for example, dealt directly with the government before it published its Wikileaks documents, discussing in depth what should and should not be published. When national security is an issue, there are always prior discussions with the government in which the government gets to make its case whether certain information will impact national security.

2. The AP case is unique in that the news organization, a cooperative entity supported by news organizations across the nation and around the world, is in a position where it is reporting on itself. What concerns must a news organization consider when facing such a circumstance?

The biggest concerns that any editor has when his or her news organization is the subject of the story are proportionality and fairness. The fairness one is obvious: You have to cover yourself with the same sort of tough questions you apply to every other kind of institution. The Boston Globe, for example, is going through this right now as its reporters cover attempts by various groups to purchase the paper from the New York Times Company.

The issue of proportionality is unique here, because the AP is an association made up of pretty much every mainstream news organization in the United States. So beyond the First Amendment issues this investigation raises, the story has consequences for the general public, which receives much of its news coverage—particularly its coverage of Washington—from the AP. Another reason this is such a big story is because this is only the latest example of this administration seeming committed to making it very difficult or impossible for investigative reporters to do their jobs, particularly on national security issues.

There’s this impression, particularly on the right, that Obama is in bed with the press. But the relationship between Obama and the press is horrible, the worst of any president going back to Ronald Reagan. Reporters are being given nothing, they’re viewed with contempt, and now the White House is finding new tools like social media to get its message out there. This isn’t a story that’s just about the press, and I think that’s something we in the media don’t do a good enough job at explaining. We don’t write that the government is making it harder and harder for the press to get records and information on behalf of the public. This all comes down to our right to know what the government is doing, and these developments ought to be a matter of grave public concern.

3. In response to the Justice Department’s investigation into the AP, President Obama and the White House have asked Sen. Chuck Shumer to reintroduce a press shield law, legislation that would offer greater protection to journalists trying to keep their sources and communications confidential. What are your thoughts on reviving that legislation?

On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney came out and said the president had asked Shumer to resubmit his shield law legislation, which was last considered back in 2009. Carney described the president as “a strong defender of the First Amendment and a firm believer in the need for the press to be free in its ability to conduct investigative reporting and to facilitate a free flow information.” But the fact of the matter is that Shumer’s shield law legislation, which was filed in 2009, failed principally because the Obama administration tried to water down its protection of journalists, particularly in the area of national security. The administration wanted to maintain its power to prevent and investigate leaks, which it has done more than any previous administration combined. Attorney General Eric Holder has gone after cases like this AP one with vigor.

This article was originally posted by News@Northeastern

“It’s been a long time coming,” Kennedy writes. “Tom Stites, a veteran journalist who’s worked at The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, came up with the idea of local news co-ops a few years ago. He founded the Banyan Project to serve as an umbrella; Haverhill Matters will be the pilot. I wrote about his plans for the Lab last year, as well as in the epilogue to my forthcoming book about online community journalism, The Wired City. The launch date for Haverhill Matters has slipped a few times, but at this point it looks like 2013 will be the year.”

To learn more about Kennedy’s perspective on the potential for news co-ops like Haverhill Matters, read the full article at the Nieman Journalism Lab site.

Fountain is the author of “Under the March Sun: the Story of Spring Training.”

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Dohan was one of several speakers at the “Journalism & Juvenile Justice: How Your Sentences Affect Theirs,” held at Northeastern University, April 17.  In addition to Dohan, the panel, moderated by School of Journalism Professor Dan Kennedy, included former governor Michael Dukakis; Professor James Alan Fox,  Criminal Justice Department; Professor Sarah J. Jackson, Communication Studies Department; Gail Garinger, child advocate for the state of Massachusetts; and Leslie E. Harris, juvenile court judge.

The event was hosted by the College of Arts, Media and Design and the School of Public Policy & Urban Affairs at Northeastern University, Young People For, Press Pass TV, and the New England Society of Professional Journalists.

Read Emily Sweeney’s story about the event in the Northeastern University college edition of Boston.com →

To read these stories, visit the Pulitzer website.>>  

“The people of Watertown felt doubly victimized. The bombings struck their city, and then, a few days later, turned their streets into a war zone,” Howe writes.

Read the full story at the New Yorker →

Photo by Taylor Dobbs, Northeastern School of Journalism January 2013 graduate. See Dobbs’s other photos of the Boston Marathon explosion.>>

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Photo by Mary Knox Merrill.

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Waterhouse held two co-op jobs at The Boston Globe in the North regional and the Business section.  She also did a public relations internship at Wayfair, the online home goods website.  Waterhouse is the Recruitment Manger at The Huntington News.  As part of the award, students are assigned to long-term mentors.  Waterhouse was assigned to Bonnie Daffinee, a 2009 Northeastern graduate.

In the photo: Gail Waterhouse with her mentor Bonnie Daffinee following the ceremony.