Pentagon Eases Some Rules on Guantánamo Coverage

[Judi Lynn]

Source: New York Times

Pentagon Eases Some Rules on Guantánamo Coverage
By JEREMY W. PETERS
Published: September 10, 2010

The Pentagon has agreed to revise some of the rules that have restricted what journalists are free to report on from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, resolving a conflict that peaked in May when four reporters were expelled from the naval base there.

In a significant compromise, the Pentagon agreed to no longer require that reporters withhold information that the military considers privileged if such information has already been publicly revealed or independently verified. A coalition of news organizations, including The Associated Press, The New York Times and The Miami Herald, had filed a complaint with the Pentagon that such restrictions amounted to an unconstitutional imposition of prior restraint.

The revised policy now specifies that journalists will not be considered in violation of the rules if what they report “was legitimately obtained” in the course of newsgathering done outside Guantánamo.

A dispute over independently verified information was the central issue in the case involving the four reporters who were barred from the base. They each printed the name of a former Army interrogator who was a witness against a Canadian citizen accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan and detained at Guantánamo. The interrogator’s name had been mentioned in many news accounts of the case, but a military judge had declared his name protected information.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/us/11gitmo.html?_r=1&ref=world

[Solly Mack]

1. k/r

[Hawkowl]

2. Campaign promise fulfilled!!

See! Obama said he was going to make sure that the Pentagon slightly eased restrictions on the press regarding Guantanamo! He said it repeatedly during his campaign.

Oh. My bad. Someone just pointed out to me that he promised to "close" Guantanamo. So this is kinda like the public option then?