Well, i hope youll all join me in thanking ambassador cui. [applause] a live picture now from the new America Foundation here in washington. They host a discussion looking at the Obama Administration and the press, more specifically a new report by the committee to protect journalists which investigates press Freedom Conditions during the obama presidency. Leonard downie is the journalism professor at Arizona State university and former executive editor of the Washington Post to other speakers included Senior Correspondent for the Washington Post. This is live coverage on cspan2. It should start shortly. Hello, welcome in america. Im managing editor at new america which means i added the new digital magazine weekly walk. Im actually here to welcome you to this event. The Obama Administration and the press. If you havent had a chance to see this report, which i have come it made me want to rename the group that wrote it Community Protect sources. Its all about protecting sources but tho
Of washington, took out Student Loans to do that. Some of the loans we debate here in congress recently, im paying off the Student Loans, but im grateful this is a country where no matter who you are, where you come from, that you can come here, you can pursue dreams, work hard, and really see what you can do with your life. And following your twitter account, twitting out including one in the mcdons uniform. How old were you in i was in college. It was a summer job that i had at that point in the mcdonalds in washington. There was that would be the probably 1986, my freshman year in college. National journal says youre one of the top ten republicans to follow on twitter. How much do you tweet . I try to do it my goal is once a day. Its a combined effort between my staff and myself, so it is, you know, sometimes they 2003 tweet or im tweeting, and i can easily check twitter on blackberry to get a sense of what the hot topics are, whats on peoples minds or what reactions are in congress
Foundation discussed the studys findings. This is an hour and 15 minutes. Hello and welcome to new america. Im the managing editor at new america which means i edit the digital weekly magazine. Im here here to welcome me to this event. The Obama Administration and the press surveillance post9 11 america. If you havent had a chance to see this report which i have you may want to rename the group that to protect sources say those of us who have done the job of investigative reporting the sources are our lifeblood and if they come to the sources we had better. Im also familiar with the court cases against sources. Its a bleak picture of to and including u. S. Attorney in chicago who was the hero pat fitzgerald. They put a lot of guys away who were investigating but when it came to blankly asserted that journalists who get leaked information is our witnesses to a crime which puts us in the crosshairs. Thanks for coming here it is a great report and if you havent read it please do. These gu
Senate. Would you agree with that opinion and you think his success in the senate did not contradict his election as president but it was part of the pathway going to the final roll . I do think the senate. Changed him and in some why developed him. I think he developed expertise in areas that he hadnt had before and he really did a deep dive on some complicated issues. It was almost like it rants graduate school for kennedy. I think he did use the senate years to learn more about issues and i think he also kind of formed a political identity in which he presented himself as both a kind of a modern new politician, you know a young candidate but also someone who is very familiar with American History and understanding traditions and was very steep in American History. So you know i think he put together a very powerful political presence that was a forest but i think it does raise raise one of the ironies of the american political system seems to me that the times that you are most elec
Let me ask about an exceptional story a few weeks ago about the effect of the leak investigations on the whistleblowers. It cataloged about how the United States government against one person can destroy life even for those whom the prosecution fell apart and theyve been fined. The Intelligence Committee was looking at that. The intelligence at the beginning of the administration told the New York Times on the record this was his intention, to get the Justice Department to prosecute some people so it wouldnt have a Chilling Effect on the others. Could you talk a little bit about the Insider Threat program. I thought your discussion was exceptional. And you can imagine how the government would have some sort of a program after the disclosure that Chelsea Manning had taken the scope of the documents that she had. Just to get your arms around how it was being handled. It seems to have become something quite different. Yeah. Its the original president ial directive that set up the study th