Ex-AP Exec Testifies Before Senate Panel

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON - The more information the government tries to keep secret, the greater the chance that what should be withheld will be leaked to reporters, according to a retired Associated Press newsman and executive.

"Overdone secrecy raises, rather than reduces, the risk that really vital secrets will be breached," Walter Mears, former AP executive editor and vice president, said in prepared testimony for a Senate hearing Tuesday. "Without sensible priorities for withholding information, things that shouldn't get out will get out."

Mears, a Pulitzer Prize-winning political reporter, was among five witnesses appearing before the Senate Judiciary terrorism, technology and homeland security subcommittee. The panel is looking at legislation designed in part to force government officials and agencies to respond more quickly to requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act.
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"Too often, security becomes an excuse for shielding embarrassing information and secrecy can conceal mismanagement or wrongdoing," Mears said, recalling former President Nixon's effort to use national security as an excuse for the Watergate cover-up. "Forgetting history risks repeating it."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050315/ap_on_go_co/congress_foia

[Dover]

1. AP's Mears Testifies for New FOIA (Freedom of Info) Bill

Sunshine Week: AP's Mears Testifies for New FOIA Bill



Published: March 15, 2005 11:00 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) The more information the government tries to keep secret, the greater the chance that what should be withheld will be leaked to reporters, according to a retired Associated Press newsman and executive.

"Overdone secrecy raises, rather than reduces, the risk that really vital secrets will be breached," Walter Mears, former AP executive editor and vice president, said in prepared testimony for a Senate hearing Tuesday. "Without sensible priorities for withholding information, things that shouldn't get out will get out."

Mears, a Pulitzer Prize-winning political reporter, was among five witnesses appearing before the Senate Judiciary terrorism, technology, and homeland security subcommittee. The panel is looking at legislation designed in part to force government officials and agencies to respond more quickly to requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Bush administration set a higher threshold for FOIA disclosures, advising agencies to make sure the information they released would not jeopardize national security.

"Too often, security becomes an excuse for shielding embarrassing information and secrecy can conceal mismanagement or wrongdoing," Mears said, recalling President Nixon's effort to use national security as an excuse for the Watergate cover-up. "Forgetting history risks repeating it."

A bill by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., would require agencies to give people seeking documents a tracking number within 10 days and to set up telephone or Internet systems allowing them to learn the status and estimated completion date.
Agencies that didn't respond within 20 days would lose all exemptions to FOIA requests except for national security, personal privacy, proprietary information, or a ban in another law...cont'd

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000838339