alibi . march 3 – 9, 2005
A Culture of Secrecy
What has happened to the principle that American democracy should be accessible and transparent?
By Charles Lewis

For the most part, there is little appetite for investigative journalism. For the “suits” who control what we read, see and hear, besides potentially alienating the political power structure against their own company or industry, thereby possibly jeopardizing millions of dollars in future profits, this edgy enterprise journalism is not efficient or cost-effective. It simply takes too much time, requires too much money and incurs too many legal and other risks. Forget whether or not this is fair or accurate, or relevant given the civic obligation broadcasters and publishers have to the communities they ostensibly serve. It simply is, and it helps to explain why today we have so little independent, critical reporting and why instead we are mostly fed a steady diet of pap from morning to night.

The problem is made worse by the presence of brilliant communications tacticians in the White House who cleverly frame their controversial policy agendas, setting up the class’s stenography assignment for the day with bold, positive names: “No Child Left Behind,” the “USA Patriot Act,” the “Clear Skies” environmental policy, the “Healthy Forests Initiative.” Needless to say, such Orwellian word ploys–exacerbated by largely docile, straight news coverage–slip devilishly into common usage, leaving the public ill-equipped, unprotected and vulnerable to breathtaking, unabashed manipulation.
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Lewis, a former TV news producer, founded The Center for Public Integrity in 1990