05/17/2005

AP president: Media must build trust with public in FOI fight

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- Confronted with growing government secrecy, the news media must forge a stronger alliance with the public on the need for open government policies, Associated Press President and CEO Tom Curley said May 14.

"We all need to do a better job of persuading the public that freedom of information is not a media privilege but a key part of what keeps other freedoms alive for all," Curley said at a conference of open government organizations from across the country.

The news industry and advocates for open government, he said, must be united in opposing governmental secrecy that has been on the rise because of national security concerns since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The public also must be recruited as partners with the press in safeguarding First Amendment rights and securing the freedom of information critical to democracy, he said.

"We've got to rebuild the trust with the public we serve so they sense that we're on their side in this fight," Curley said.

To help do that, he said, news organizations must cut back on the practice of going off the record and using anonymous sources merely for the sake of expediency, he said.

Curley's speech came at a conference sponsored by the National Freedom of Information Coalition, which advocates for open government.

Curley cited some encouraging developments in recent months, such as the Sunshine in Government Initiative by the AP and seven journalism organizations. The coalition, which was announced in March, is lobbying for legislation in Congress to speed the release of records under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

Curley also expressed support for federal legislation to shield reporters from being forced to disclose confidential sources.

First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, in earlier remarks at the conference, said it is critical to establish a legal right in federal law for reporters to protect their sources.

The Supreme Court has been asked to rule in a case involving reporters for The New York Times and Time magazine who face jail time for refusing to reveal their sources to a grand jury about a leak of an undercover CIA officer's name.

The news media "should be out front in trying to persuade Congress" to approve shield legislation if the court declines to hear the appeal or it rules against the press, Abrams said.