NY Times Reporter: Justice Department Leak Targeting Already Having 'Chilling Effect'

According to New York Times national security reporter Mark Mazzetti, who spoke with The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent, the leak investigations by the Obama Justice Department are already having their intended effect:

There’s no question that this has a chilling effect. People who have talked in the past are less willing to talk now. Everyone is worried about communication and how to communicate, and  is there any method of communication that is not being monitored. It’s got people on both sides — the reporter and source side — pretty concerned.

Mazzetti added, “It certainly seems like they’re being very serious about hunting down people talking to reporters. All we know are the results. The fact that you have so many [cases] now, it scares people who talk to us. [Sources] who might have talked to us once may not talk to us now.”

Without leaks, reporters can only report one thing, and that is what the government tells them to report.

 

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