When in Doubt, Publish

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It is the business -- and the responsibility -- of the press to reveal secrets.

Journalists are constantly trying to report things that public officials and others believe should be secret, and constantly exercising restraint over what they publish.

Most Americans want their government to be held accountable, which is the raison d'?tre of watchdog journalism. At the same time, they do not want the press to disclose government secrets that are vital to national security.

The journalist's dilemma, then, lies in choosing between the risk that would result from disclosure and the parallel risk of keeping the public in the dark -- a quandary that has become all the more pointed since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. As deans charged with imparting the values of journalism to the next generation of reporters and editors, we favor disclosure when there are not strong reasons against it.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/07/AR2006070701146.html