It isn't as though Wall Street doesn't get special treatment. There have been many, many bills that have shielded special interests from prosecution and otherwise. It is safe to say there are many finding it FASHIONABLE to craft legislation to nullify prosecutable actions against special interests.
So, what is the big deal here, when families want their privacy to protect the dignity of their loved ones. It is not reasonable to ask the government to protect the memories of the dead in the way the families want them to be remembered?
Something underhanded in the fact there are so many dead people at an elementary school? I mean there was no plan to carry it out by the authorities. The authorities, you know, the folks writing the bill. I mean it isn't as if there was corrupt government involved.
So, the entire protestation of the Press regarding this issue has to focus on why the authorities believe it is necessary to shield the families from their further grief from a Press that understands respect for life and the dignity of the dead.
Or does the Press still practice the ethics of decency? That is the real question here, isn't it? It isn't as though the public doesn't understand what occurred at Sandy Hook. The real question is would this legislation at all be necessary if there were a Press that didn't exploit the memories held by loved ones of a dead child for sensationalism.
I think the real problem in all these clashes between the Press and government is not so much about disclosure, it is about how information is used and who it hurts that should not be hurt.
That form of exploitation is called indecency.
Given the current media climate, the legislators in Connecticut are obligated to protect the victims of the violence from that day. The victims and their families are not elected. They have done nothing to deserve any pain in their lives. There was a time when the Press discerned the difference.
This is a prime example of the Press destroying the trust between the people and the practice of journalism. It is time for the USA Press to realize how much they have destroyed their own practice.
I think the Public Trust when it comes to journalism is in retreat. When lies are tolerated and even propagated, cover ups become expected as in the Texas explosion, lives and property are endangered and even national security is disregarded, it is safe to say the Press is way over the lie of decency and being worthy of any trust at all.
Transparency has it's place, but, it isn't in insulting the decency and privacy people long for in their lives. This isn't Paris Hilton or whoever is fashionably the gossip. It would be good if that line were returned to the lives of average Americans. I would think this far less an ethics issue with a Press that actually cared about itself as well as the people they are suppose to seek as partners.
There is no ethics violation in Connecticut, except, if one wants to count those violated by the Press whom doesn't know how to say "No." to itself.
The protect the integrity of the legislation simply add a sundown provision of seventy years to any prohibition of the Freedom of Information Act.
5/28/2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Sonny Albarado, SPJ National President, 501.551.8811, spjsonny@gmail.com
Ellen Kobe, SPJ Communications Coordinator, 317.927.8000 ext. 205, ekobe@spj.org
INDIANAPOLIS — SPJ National President (click here) Sonny Albarado and SPJ Connecticut President Jodie Mozdzer Gil teamed up Thursday to write Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy a letter questioning the state’s secrecy in creating a bill that would exempt any Sandy Hook massacre records from the state's open records law. SPJ stands against the decision to withhold public information about the Newtown, Conn., shootings.
The letter was in response to a May 22 article by The Hartford Courant, which revealed that the governor’s office has been working secretly with legislative leaders and the state's top prosecutor to deny access to documents related to the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 20 children and six women died on Dec. 14. Under the legislation, government officials could withhold death certificates of anyone who died at the school, unless the request is made by a member of the victim's spouse, adult child, parent, adult sibling or legal guardian.
Albarado and Gil wrote, “The Society condemns the creation of this legislation outside the normal, transparent process of public hearings and debate. And we deplore the attempt to use the tragic events of Dec. 14 as an excuse to close off access to records that are otherwise available to the public.”...
So, what is the big deal here, when families want their privacy to protect the dignity of their loved ones. It is not reasonable to ask the government to protect the memories of the dead in the way the families want them to be remembered?
Something underhanded in the fact there are so many dead people at an elementary school? I mean there was no plan to carry it out by the authorities. The authorities, you know, the folks writing the bill. I mean it isn't as if there was corrupt government involved.
So, the entire protestation of the Press regarding this issue has to focus on why the authorities believe it is necessary to shield the families from their further grief from a Press that understands respect for life and the dignity of the dead.
Or does the Press still practice the ethics of decency? That is the real question here, isn't it? It isn't as though the public doesn't understand what occurred at Sandy Hook. The real question is would this legislation at all be necessary if there were a Press that didn't exploit the memories held by loved ones of a dead child for sensationalism.
I think the real problem in all these clashes between the Press and government is not so much about disclosure, it is about how information is used and who it hurts that should not be hurt.
That form of exploitation is called indecency.
Given the current media climate, the legislators in Connecticut are obligated to protect the victims of the violence from that day. The victims and their families are not elected. They have done nothing to deserve any pain in their lives. There was a time when the Press discerned the difference.
This is a prime example of the Press destroying the trust between the people and the practice of journalism. It is time for the USA Press to realize how much they have destroyed their own practice.
I think the Public Trust when it comes to journalism is in retreat. When lies are tolerated and even propagated, cover ups become expected as in the Texas explosion, lives and property are endangered and even national security is disregarded, it is safe to say the Press is way over the lie of decency and being worthy of any trust at all.
Transparency has it's place, but, it isn't in insulting the decency and privacy people long for in their lives. This isn't Paris Hilton or whoever is fashionably the gossip. It would be good if that line were returned to the lives of average Americans. I would think this far less an ethics issue with a Press that actually cared about itself as well as the people they are suppose to seek as partners.
There is no ethics violation in Connecticut, except, if one wants to count those violated by the Press whom doesn't know how to say "No." to itself.
The protect the integrity of the legislation simply add a sundown provision of seventy years to any prohibition of the Freedom of Information Act.
5/28/2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Sonny Albarado, SPJ National President, 501.551.8811, spjsonny@gmail.com
Ellen Kobe, SPJ Communications Coordinator, 317.927.8000 ext. 205, ekobe@spj.org
INDIANAPOLIS — SPJ National President (click here) Sonny Albarado and SPJ Connecticut President Jodie Mozdzer Gil teamed up Thursday to write Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy a letter questioning the state’s secrecy in creating a bill that would exempt any Sandy Hook massacre records from the state's open records law. SPJ stands against the decision to withhold public information about the Newtown, Conn., shootings.
The letter was in response to a May 22 article by The Hartford Courant, which revealed that the governor’s office has been working secretly with legislative leaders and the state's top prosecutor to deny access to documents related to the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 20 children and six women died on Dec. 14. Under the legislation, government officials could withhold death certificates of anyone who died at the school, unless the request is made by a member of the victim's spouse, adult child, parent, adult sibling or legal guardian.
Albarado and Gil wrote, “The Society condemns the creation of this legislation outside the normal, transparent process of public hearings and debate. And we deplore the attempt to use the tragic events of Dec. 14 as an excuse to close off access to records that are otherwise available to the public.”...
