Silencing the media

Reading this one hit home. This isn't something one admits to out loud. I was an on-air news reporter. There, I said it. My BS is in mass communications/journalism, and when I was a student, I actually believed in the power of media as the Fourth Estate. My real experiences in the field in a small market weren't nearly as glamorous as that of Woodward and Bernstein; I mostly covered local elections (still plenty dirty) and traffic fatalities (where I learned the true meaning of gallows humor). But I still believed that the responsibility of journalists was to ferret out the truth and hold the feet of those in power to the fires. After about a year, I was seriously jaded. It was all about ratings, entertainment (and the gore factor is a huge part of that), and power. And those in power doing anything to stay in power.

A freelance reporter had records taken from her in a raid by DHS and Maryland State Police. The records taken included names of Air Marshall service whistleblowers. Names of people journalists swear to keep anonymous. It isn't like doctor/patient privilege. Nothing that well protected. It's just protected by ideals and the First Amendment. But the infuriating part is that the records weren't on the search warrants. That wasn't even (supposedly) why they were there; they were looking for illegally held guns. Seems her husband had been found guilty of resisting arrest (oh the horror), and therefore couldn't have firearms. Ironically, her husband is also an ordnance technician for the Coast Guard; try to do the mental gymnastics to balance that one.

What it comes down to is a breakdown of the media system. The very few who haven't become useful idiots for the King, become targets for the King's men.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/25/exclusive-feds-confiscate-investigative-reporters-confidential-files-during-raid/