Mondo Times Media Poll Archive

This poll ran from May 7 to 13, 2007.

Mondo Stars Poll Results

"American reporters are a threat to national security." True 1139/73% False 426/27%

Votes: 1565

Paul McLeary, writing in the Columbia Journalism Review Daily on May 3, 2007 about the U.S. Army's new operational security guidelines (OPSEC) and the implications they have for reporters.

McLeary wrote: "Make no mistake, this is a very big deal, and every American citizen, not just reporters and soldiers, needs to understand the implications of the Army's strict new policy, because it directly affects how citizens receive information about their armed forces: information that it has every right to get."

The security guidelines describe "Categories of Threat." Listed under "traditional domestic threats" are hackers and militia groups, while "non-traditional" threats include drug cartels and the media. The foreign "non-traditional threats" are listed as warlords and Al Qaeda. McLearly writes that "In other words, the Army has figuratively and literally put the media in the same box as Al Qaeda, warlords, and drug cartels."

He continues, "While snake oil salesmen like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh would surely rank the American press up there with Osama Bin Laden and his homicidal ilk, for the Army to do so is shocking, displaying a deep ignorance on the part of at least some segments of the uniformed military over just what the media's role in a democracy is, while sending the unambiguous message to soldiers and DoD employees that reporters are to be treated as enemies."

Under the new rules, all Army personnel and DoD contractors are told to keep an eye on reporters and anyone seen speaking to the press, and that they should "consider handling attempts by unauthorized personnel to solicit critical information or sensitive information as a Subversion and Espionage Directed Against the U.S. Army (SAEDA) incident."

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