PAVING THE WAY FOR CENSORSHIP

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100150133-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 29, 2012
• Sequence Number: 133
• Publication Date: January 24, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/29: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100150133-1
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE___122_____
Jack Anderson- -
,Paving the
Way for
,Censorsh:i
President Reagan seems relentlessly
determined to control the flow of infor-
mation to the American'people. There
is a word for this, and it isn't the-word
t he chooses to use. He speaks of "secu-
? riy"; the correct Word is "censorship."
The president has vowed tome "all
legal methods" to bottle up the infor-
illation that his administration decides
t the public should not have. ,
; The restrictions he contemplates
. would impose tighter press control
than even Richard Nixon dreamed
about. Already, Reagan has issued a di-
rective threatening "appropriate disci-
plinary measures" against any govern-
' merit employee who discusses classified
matters with newsmen without the ad-
vance approval of an unspecified "sen-
ior official."
This missive will be followed by in
executive order, which will have the
force of law. I reported several, weeks
ago on the first draft of the proposed
order. It would give the CIA something
, it has always considered its due: virtu-
' ally total immunity from public scru-
tiny. It would also'- put "SECRET"
, stamps in the hands , of a whole new
horde of federal bureaucrats., ,1
That first draft has now 6een re- 1
vised. But my associate John Dillon
has seen a copy of the latest draft. If
anything, it's even worse than the
original proposal The new draft, which
is being circulated under the signature
of presidential counselor Edwin Meese,
retains the CIA's blanket simmunity_
from public disclosure and toughens up
the language regarding classification.
For example, the original wording 4
allowed defense material "vital to na-
tional security" to be classified and
thus kept from the public The new
, .version allows the classification of ma- I
terial "relating to national security."
THE WASHINGTON POST
24 January 1982
Thus a cOirupti official could coved
up, say, the purchase of paper clips for
the Army from his brother-in-law'a
firm by identifying the transaction asi
"relating to national security."
While most bureaucrats probably
welcome the protection from potential
embarrassment that- the new, much
' looser classification rules will give
them, there are some who think the
new regulations don't go far enough.
? They'd like to keep the public com-
pletely in the dark about their activi-
t, ties.
Internal Pentagon memos show how
eager_ the generals and admirals are to
take advantage of the secrecy that the
Reagan administration advocates.
' They want a whole new category of
"security" classification to cover every-
thing that doesn't qualify under the
rules for "CONFIDENTIAL," "SE-
CRET" or "TOP SECRET."
The new catch-all classification
would be "RESTRICTED," a stamp
that has actually been around for years
as an informal method of designating
material that really isn't sensitive but
is considered less essential for public
edification than, say, a press release.
One Pentagon memo argues that the
proposed classification is needed for
"the effective safeguarding of a range
1, of information that is not now gen-
erally classifiable." It goes on to de-
? scribe this as information "the disclo-
sure of which reasonably could be ex- I
pected to cause the loss to the United
States of a technological, diplomatic or
military advantage..."
That could include everything from
a report on recruiting difficulties to an ?
off-the-cuff remark by a general at a
Pentagon?reception.
If Reagan wants to keep secrets from
the Russians, he should speak to the
FBI, not impose censorship upon the
press. The truth is, of course, that he
hopes to use the security issue to regu-
late the news. What he wants the pub-
lic to know, he will communicate di-
rectly through television talks or other
tightly controlled mechanisms. He has
the open face and amiable manner that
will help him to get away with manag-
ing the news. But inevitably, is, he
tightens the nozzle on the news, the of-
k4ficikals: nes will spring multiple
fl
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/29: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100150133-1