Long but good article from the Columbia Journalism Review. Well worth reading.
-rick Infowarrior.org Homeland Security: What We Don�t Know Can Hurt Us BY TRUDY LIEBERMAN �The most important failure was one of imagination.� � Report of the 9/11 Commission It could happen, and some are certain that it will: another catastrophic attack on an American city, another day of horror and heartbreak. The raw scenes would be carried live on national television, and the media would rise to the occasion, as they did after the airplanes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Television would focus its lens on nothing else; newspapers and magazines would begin work on amazing packages that, in time, would begin to piece together just how the security of the homeland had again been breached. Commissions would be convened, and we�d cover every word. We would begin to hear from our colleagues echoes of things that were written and said in the aftermath of the first attack, on 9/11, as we once again declared that the age of fluff and celebrity was over. But what about now, before such an attack? What, exactly, is being done to prevent one? Three-quarters of Americans say they are satisfied that the government is doing a good job of protecting them from terrorists. But do they really know? Billions of dollars have been spent, vast quantities of data that were once part of the public record have vanished, reams of new regulations have been written, and the largest reorganization of the federal government in half a century has taken place � all in the name of defending the homeland. It�s quite a story, and for a few months after 9/11, the media were filled with articles about homeland security just as they have been filled lately with stories about terror alerts. Yet extensive and specific searches by CJR show that over the last couple of years, coverage of the effort to prevent another 9/11 has been spotty, episodic, reactive, and shallow. The strong stories we did find are the exceptions that prove the rule, and they more than demonstrate the need for a continuing and critical assessment of whether the government�s policies and practices actually match their stated purpose of safeguarding America. < BIG snip > http://www.cjr.org/issues/2004/5/lieberman-homeland.asp -- You are a subscribed member of the infowarrior list. Visit www.infowarrior.org for list information or to unsubscribe. This message may be redistributed freely in its entirety. Any and all copyrights appearing in list messages are maintained by their respective owners.
