Michael Oreskes, the senior vice president for news and editorial director at NPR, has drafted a letter objecting to guidelines regarding the treatment of journalists in the Pentagon’s new Law of War manual, calling its guidance “contrary to some basic principles of journalism ethics.”
In the letter, which is addressed to Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, Oreskes condemns passages from the new manual, a document published in June that outlines rules and regulations governing the law of war. Specifically, he cites language he says could be construed to justify treating journalists as spies and requiring reporters to carry credentials.
These statements are contrary to some basic principles of journalism ethics. First, journalists should not be required to be licensed or to carry “identification documents,” although many do carry press credentials of some form. More importantly, to maintain independence, journalists should not be obligated to have “permission” of “relevant authorities” to gather or disseminate news. Journalists generally “act openly,” although to protect their own security in a war zone, it may become necessary to take actions that could be interpreted as not being “open.” The statements in the Manual are very broad and encroach on what we consider to be basic press freedoms.
In his disapproval of the manual, Oreskes joins representatives from several other news organizations, including The New York Times, The Associated Press and ABC News. Writing for The New York Times on Tuesday, editorial board member Ernesto Londono said a possible Pentagon decision to revise the manual “can’t happen quickly enough.”
The manual, an inaugural document that runs more than 1,000 pages, includes rules that make practicing journalism “more dangerous, cumbersome and subject to censorship,” according to The New York Times editorial board.
The guidelines were promulgated while an American journalist, Washington Post Tehran Bureau Chief Jason Rezaian, languished in a cell in Iran on bogus charges of spying for America.
Here’s Oreskes’ letter:
