Greedy Trial Lawyer
Federal Secrecy Rules Protect Corporations
Category: Gaming The System
The reason workplace injuries and accidents are reported to the government is to provide reliable information that could lead to greater worker safety - a worthwhile goal. The reason corporations contribute large sums of money to the continuation of the present Administration in Washington may be to frustrate that goal. The Administration stamps Secret on everything reported.
David Barstow, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his investigative reporting about death and injury among American workers, says the tools he uses to do his job are being eroded by federal government policies. His complaint is detailed in an article online.
Speaking at Utah Valley State College on Wednesday, the New York Times reporter urged people to support "sunshine laws" that provide transparency in government and to speak out about a quiet covering up and classification of records journalists need to keep the public informed.
"The kinds of government records that I absolutely depend on to tell stories, more and more of those records are being placed outside of the public realm," he said. "They're being classified as secret, they're being denied to us under freedom of information records requests and it's happening at a rapidly growing rate."
He characterized the shift as subtle and growing. "My ability to try to tell the story, to describe the world as it is, without fear or favor is being diminished. It's being eroded. It's happening ever so gradually. It's almost imperceptible. On any given day you probably wouldn't even be able to notice it, but it's happening nonetheless."
One example was the denial of a request of a federal government list of the 14,000 businesses in the country that report the highest number of injuries and deaths on the job. The request was denied because government attorneys argued that commercial secrets were at risk. After two years of litigation, and long after the story was published, the Times won the lawsuit and the records were released, he said. They are now being used for future stories.
"It makes us, and therefore you, more dependent on official government spinners," he said. "It makes it harder for the press, and therefore you, to fact check what these spinners tell us. It makes government less accountable. It harms democracy because it makes informed consent hard to achieve."
He encouraged citizens to speak out against government policies that keep documents under wraps. Supporting a federal reporter shield law is another way to preserve the power of the press, he said. "If we are unable to protect our sources, if we are unable to stand by our promises, if we are forced to break our word, the ultimate victim will be you. Our sources dry up, and with that, important, crucial information will never see the light of day."
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