This week, the news that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) secretly grabbed two months' phone records from Associated Press reporters and editors continues to make headlines. Whether it is "Obama's war on journalists," as the online magazine Slate yelled, or the US press is "bellyaching" according to Fortune journalist David A. Kaplan, the probe is just more evidence of the continuing tension between the US government and US media.
While the DOJ has not officially explained the purpose of this probe, the cause has been unanimously identified by the US media as an AP article about a foiled terror plot in Yemen. It seems that Washington has become unimaginatively notorious for evoking security concerns.
It is an endless game in which the US government and the US media industry try to keep each other at bay. This probe, though interpreted from many perspectives, is not limited to addressing a national security concern that "put the American people at risk," based on the statement of Attorney General Eric Holder. It is also a government counterattack aimed at protecting itself from snooping and being overly "disinfected" by the media "sunshine," although the White House claimed no knowledge of this investigation.
From the Nixon administration, which attempted to punish the Washington Post for its reporting on the Watergate scandal to the latest WikiLeaks "Robin Hood" who almost flattened the US intelligence hierarchy, this kind of struggle between the US government and media never stops.
There is no doubt that freedom of speech is clearly enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution. But there is no definite term that forbids investigatory techniques being used against journalists.
It is very likely that secret probes like this, though heavily condemned by the US media, will not come to an end until Washington finds out who leaked them. These tell-tale hearts, which are always pounding against the raw nerves of the US government, are the real targets.
In fact, neither the US government nor the US media will lose this battle. The administration is fully authorized to ensure the government functions in a secure manner, while the media also has a legitimate right to watch over the government in its own way. They are just doing their own jobs with unfortunate friction emerging here and there.
This is an image of normalcy between American politics and media, which is destined to be filled with confrontation, compromise and contradiction.
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