The WH Loves Aggressive Journalism — Abroad — Today’s Q’s for O’s WH — 2/22/2012
Email(Note: White House press secretary Jay Carney began today’s briefing by praising journalists who have died covering the unrest in Syria: Marie Colvin and Rémi Ochlik as well as Anthony Shadid.)
TAPPER: The White House keeps praising these journalists who are — who’ve been killed –
CARNEY: I don’t know about “keep” — I think -
TAPPER: You’ve done it, Vice President Biden did it in a statement. How does that square with the fact that this administration has been so aggressively trying to stop aggressive journalism in the United States by using the Espionage Act to take whistleblowers to court?
You’re — currently I think that you’ve invoked it the sixth time, and before the Obama administration, it had only been used three times in history. You’re — this is the sixth time you’re suing a CIA officer for allegedly providing information in 2009 about CIA torture. Certainly that’s something that’s in the public interest of the United States. The administration is taking this person to court. There just seems to be disconnect here. You want aggressive journalism abroad; you just don’t want it in the United States.
CARNEY: Well, I would hesitate to speak to any particular case, for obvious reasons, and I would refer you to the Department of Justice for more on that.
I think we absolutely honor and praise the bravery of reporters who are placing themselves in extremely dangerous situations in order to bring a story of oppression and brutality to the world. I think that is commendable, and it’s certainly worth noting by us. And as somebody who knew both Anthony and Marie, I particularly appreciate what they did to bring that story to the American people.
I — as for other cases, again, without addressing any specific case, I think that there are issues here that involve highly sensitive classified information, and I think that, you know, those are — divulging or to — divulging that kind of information is a serious issue, and it always has been.
TAPPER: So the truth should come out abroad; it shouldn’t come out here?
CARNEY: Well, that’s not at all what I’m saying, Jake, and you know it’s not. Again, I can’t — specific –
TAPPER: That’s what the Justice Department’s doing.
CARNEY: Well, you’re making a judgment about a broad array of cases, and I can’t address those specifically.
TAPPER: It’s also the judgment that a lot of whistleblowers’ organizations and good government groups are making as well.
CARNEY: Not one that I’m going to make.
-Jake Tapper
*Note: for more on this issue, please refer to the New York Times, the New Yorker, The Atlantic Wire, Salon.com, and Glenn Greenwald’s blog also in Salon.com.
Best Commencement Speeches of 2012 
Joe Biden Recalls Death of Wife, Daughter
Keep on ‘em, Jake! We need more journalists like you. And keep the next administration to task, whether D, R, L, G, I, whatever.
Posted by: John | February 22, 2012, 2:42 pm 2:42 pm
Jake Tapper is one of the few great reporters we have left, a standout especially among the tongue-bathing stenographers in the WH press corps. He and Matt Lee of the AP don’t allow the mouthpieces to get away with drivel. A star. More to the point, a dying breed.
Posted by: Jake Tapper is a superstar | February 22, 2012, 2:43 pm 2:43 pm
The republicans have made three major miscalculations.
The first is that the bad economy is going to win them the Presidency.
The second is that the tea party is the path to the Presidency.
The third is thinking that we live back in the 1950s where the major media outlets were newspapers and 5:00 PM TV anchors. In today’s world of instant research, what a candidate says can’t be validated or not validated in a matter of minutes.
Before a candidate could say almost anything and it would take the newspapers or networks weeks to see if it was true or not. By the time the public was informed, the comment was almost forgotten.
These republican candidates seem to think whatever they say will just be ignored; today it doesn’t work that way. They keep blaming the media for their own stupid utterances
Posted by: tmferretti | February 22, 2012, 2:45 pm 2:45 pm
With reporters like Jake Tapper refusing to conform to manufactured consent, there is still hope for our country.
Thank you for your service to our democracy, Jake !
Posted by: There may still be hope ! | February 22, 2012, 3:05 pm 3:05 pm
“How does that square with the fact that this administration has been so aggressively trying to stop aggressive journalism in the United States by using the Espionage Act to take whistleblowers to court?”
Great news Jake. Why haven’t we seen anything on this on the Nightly News? Why keep most Americans in the dark on something this important?
Posted by: wheresmymoney | February 22, 2012, 3:09 pm 3:09 pm
And why are you hiding this in The Note? Why isn’t it in Political Punch as it should be???
Posted by: wheresmymoney | February 22, 2012, 3:26 pm 3:26 pm
The biggest hindrance to any President in dealing with the press is the Secret Service. The agents don’t like a bunch of screaming reporters around the President, it makes them very nervous so they try to steer the President away from such disorganized, spontaneous behavior.
They don’t want any more incidents like a shoe being thrown at President Bush in Iraq.
Posted by: tmferretti | February 22, 2012, 3:40 pm 3:40 pm
I love it when WH press secretary Carney says it’s not appropriate to comment on that at this time, or he can’t be specific, or hasn’t the specifics, or some other such response. He does it all the time. It either means he doesn’t wan’t to embarrass himself or the president, or more often than not, he hasn’t the slightest clue. It is fun to watch sometimes, however.
Posted by: newcountryman | February 22, 2012, 5:00 pm 5:00 pm
I’m surprised Jake Tapper hasn’t been fired by the all barack channel.
Posted by: newcountryman | February 22, 2012, 5:04 pm 5:04 pm
It is a shame at the way our press has been silenced from reporting on certain stories. I find myself reading online papers abroad for stuff just not reported here, especially if it is critical of the current President.
Posted by: david | February 22, 2012, 5:20 pm 5:20 pm
Jake I thought you were a little soft on Bush. Had you been a little tougher in questioning that administration do you feel the current administration might be more hesitant to take such liberties with the constitution?
Thanks anyway for being a voice of the people that actually believe the president should follow the laws like we are expected to do.
Posted by: Frederick Brown | February 22, 2012, 6:24 pm 6:24 pm
Who is the woman directly behind Tapper who is visibly appalled that he would ask such questions? Was she not aware that the Obama administration has regularly invoked the Espionage Act to intimidate journalists and whistleblowers and stifle investigative journalism? If she’s an establishment journalist than chances are this is the first time she’s hearing about this.
Posted by: Joseph Moore | February 22, 2012, 9:19 pm 9:19 pm
Thanks Jack. The Obama Administration’s unprecedented war on whistleblowers needs to be loudly and persistently brought home to the public. You are exactly the type of reporter we need, and it is a travesty that you are alone in your persistence.
Like a previous commenter, I was amazed at the expression of the woman behind Tapper to the left. She seems to think that such a lack of decorum has no place in the White House press room. Sadly this has become the norm for the overwhelming majority of reporters on the White House beat, who seem to believe that their job is to convey the Administration’s talking points to the great unwashed, instead of holding our elected leaders accountable for their actions.
Posted by: Joseph P. | February 22, 2012, 10:23 pm 10:23 pm
Jake, I’d be honored if I could wright your biography while you concurrently write your autobiography. I already have the title. Tap-Tap: The Last Man .
It will be more a critique on journalists in general, but will praise you repeatedly in juxtaposition to the rest of them.
Posted by: JDW | February 22, 2012, 11:29 pm 11:29 pm
Jake you are one of the few left. Keep it coming on ANY politician. Can we get you hosing This Week already?
Posted by: Colin | February 22, 2012, 11:32 pm 11:32 pm
Who, pray tell, is the unattractive, smirking, bespectacled and “objective” reporter over Jake’s right shoulder? She can’t help but look on incredulously as Jake asks his question?
Posted by: JDW | February 22, 2012, 11:36 pm 11:36 pm
…sorry…Jake’s left shoulder…my “right” (yeah, I noticed that typo too) Ugh! :)
Posted by: JDW | February 23, 2012, 12:22 am 12:22 am
That’s Mara Liason – one of the government’s NPR hacks.
Posted by: KC | February 23, 2012, 12:29 am 12:29 am
I am a 31 year old american male and this might be the first time i can say that i am proud of a mainstream american journalist. And I won’t lie, I always thought that Tapper was a bit of a blowhard. But if he keeps this up, he will rise in my eyes to levels as great as Murrow.
Posted by: mazdak | February 23, 2012, 2:47 am 2:47 am
Carney does have a tough job, being the mouthpiece for Obama can’t be easy. He has to spin continuously.
Posted by: Todd | February 23, 2012, 4:32 am 4:32 am
Even Carney looks disgusted with having to defend this crap. And that’s one guy with a high tolerance for crap.
Posted by: goerce | February 23, 2012, 5:19 am 5:19 am
So Jake Tapper is “a star,” a “great reporter,” a “standout,” when all he’s really doing is just doing his job. The bar is so low, it’s hard to even trip on it anymore.
Posted by: labwriter | February 23, 2012, 8:28 am 8:28 am
I must admit….I didn’t think there were any real journalists left in the mainstream. The fact that I’m reading this on ABC is surreal. Good job, Mr. Tapper!
Posted by: justlisa | February 23, 2012, 8:48 am 8:48 am
A truly stupid analogy – comparing a democratic government taking alleged lawbreakers to court to dictatorships that kill opponents.
Posted by: Jerry Skurnik | February 23, 2012, 9:51 am 9:51 am
Give ‘em hell Tapper!
Posted by: dragnet | February 23, 2012, 10:27 am 10:27 am
@Jerry Skurnik – to those dictatorships, they are merely punishing alleged lawbreakers.
But while we’re on this subject, please, tell me exactly what laws Thomas Drake violated to deserve being prosecuted for espionage.
And while we’re on the subject of alleged lawbreakers, why doesn’t the Obama administration pursue charges against those who leaked classified details like e.g. the bin Laden raid? Could it be that they want to selectively prosecute only those who leak the “wrong” information while looking the other way when the administration leaks the “right” information?
Posted by: DCX2 | February 23, 2012, 12:32 pm 12:32 pm
NPR really drives me crazy. Most of the “journalists” believe themselves to be superior to others in their field but they are as sycophantic as the rest, just more snide (watch Glenn Greenwald with NPRs Dina Temple-Raston). The only thing worse than a bootlick is an arrogant bootlick
Posted by: roy | February 23, 2012, 1:45 pm 1:45 pm
Will ABC pls give the Sunday morning show to JakeT – he’s the sharpest correspondent they’ve got. GeorgeS is good, but Jake deserves a shot at the top slot, IMHO.
Posted by: jcuz | February 23, 2012, 4:35 pm 4:35 pm
NIce job Mr. Tapper. Keep calling all of them on the hypocrisy The Beltway is built on!
Posted by: IMC | February 23, 2012, 6:39 pm 6:39 pm
I will never be disappointed by Barack Obama. I pity anyone who ever bought what he was selling.
Posted by: John C. Randolph | February 23, 2012, 8:52 pm 8:52 pm
Thank you Mr. Tapper! Keep after them…. I find the Obama war on whistle blowers very disturbing.
Remind Carney that Obama promised to be the most transparent administration ever, not the most repressive.
Posted by: Susan | February 23, 2012, 8:58 pm 8:58 pm
Um, whatever you think about the administration’s relationship with the press, you are a pretty sick human being if you think it’s at all related to journalists dying while covering conflicts. The woman behind him was probably appalled like I am that Tapper is unable to formulate his question without draping it in the deaths of foreign correspondents that have nothing to do with it.
Posted by: Jim | February 23, 2012, 9:13 pm 9:13 pm
finally!
I am so sick of the alphabet news channels and their lack and/or opinionated versions of the news. (I found myself giggling as I typed in ABC into the search engine) If Mr Tapper keeps it up, and he still has a job with ABC in the future, I will check back. Maybe there is hope for journalism in the future?
Posted by: Lora | February 23, 2012, 9:54 pm 9:54 pm
Attaboy, Jake. We need more journalists like you.
Posted by: citizen | February 23, 2012, 10:12 pm 10:12 pm
I really enjoyed watching Mr. Carney’s face at the 1:20 mark. After commending journalists for exposing oppression and brutality abroad he takes a long pause and you can almost see your point sink in. He’s pretty much reeling from that point on.
Well done.
Posted by: Test | February 24, 2012, 12:03 am 12:03 am
Good on you for following up. You are right on point.
After all, Assad says that coverage of the events in Homs is too sensitive and would disclose important security information that would aid terrorists. US Whistleblowers that disclose torture should be honored not prosecuted.
Posted by: 22state | February 24, 2012, 5:31 am 5:31 am
Thank you Mr. Tapper for asking probing questions and not acting like a White House stenographer. I live overseas and until I heard about you from Glenn Greenwald I was unfamiliar with your work. Watching you gives me hope that this low point in US journalism can be turned around.
Posted by: Qualtrough | February 24, 2012, 6:59 am 6:59 am
Thank you Mr. Tapper for pointing out the hypocrisy and double standard of this gov.
Posted by: Thomas Gustine | February 24, 2012, 10:46 am 10:46 am
Drawing a correlation between honoring journalists killed in Syria and people leaking secret or classified information to the press is a bit of a stretch. I know you guys must have heroic visions of yourself; perhaps delusions of espionage and John le Carré doing amazing and daring acts but… let’s not get carried away in your own egotistic fantasies of grandeur.
Posted by: Richard Prince | February 24, 2012, 12:22 pm 12:22 pm
Great job! Thank-you! :)
Posted by: SG | February 24, 2012, 2:20 pm 2:20 pm
WELL DONE..sir! Well Done.
Posted by: j7k30tL0 | February 25, 2012, 12:52 am 12:52 am
Amazing. Thank you for asking the hard questions.
Posted by: Carlos | February 26, 2012, 3:24 pm 3:24 pm
Way to go Jake. Please keep up the good work. Perhaps others around you will remember what being a journalist is about.
Posted by: Steph | February 28, 2012, 9:52 am 9:52 am
Mr Jake Taper, journalists in the US and journalist professors need to take a lesson from you. Your work is noted and appreciated.
Posted by: deanbob | February 28, 2012, 11:41 am 11:41 am
Jake, sorry for the finger check on your surname “Tapper”.
Posted by: deanbob | February 28, 2012, 11:46 am 11:46 am