US: Government controlling/monitoring foreign press
The USC Center on Public Diplomacy describes the latest industry in Washington: psy-op journalism. Psy-op is short for psychological operations which are frequently used to dupe the enemy in warfare. Firms are popping up in the nation's capital as young journalists sign on to what is surely more lucrative than working for a traditional publication.
The Pentagon continues to spend $400 million a year on such operations despite condemnation from the White House, mainstream media and even the Pentagon itself.
When it can't control the press, the American government will be sure to monitor it. The New York Times reports that money from the Department of Homeland Security is being funneled to Cornell, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Utah for research into a new software that would make it easier for the government to scan not only foreign media, but domestic as well.
Homeland Security said that the program's goal was to "identify common patterns from numerous sources of information which might be indicative of potential threats to the nation."
Press freedom lawyers denounced the project, one saying "It is just creepy and Orwellian."
Sources: USC Center on Public Diplomacy, New York Times
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I apologize to Mr. Boland. He made some great comments that sparked a very interesting debate. Unfortunately, they got lost in a technical editing problem I had yesterday. Completely my fault. We should all hope he posts his comments again to provide us with a better understanding of Mr. Ito's op-ed.
We could have/should have used a wiki, but we didn't. I interviewed a number of people on IM initially. I passed a file around to people on IRC to edit. The people on IRC pointed out things that were difficult to understand and contributed key elements that helped the flow. The NYT editors did a lot of work on the piece as well and were vital in the process.