CENSORSHIP IS THE REAL THREAT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100100061-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 61
• Publication Date: May 22, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

v Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/24: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100100061-3 /
ARTICIF
USA TODAY
22 May 1986
MICHAEL G. GARTNER
USA TODAY columnist
censorship is the real threat
DES MOINES, Iowa - ML Dp honed Bradlee's bow xAtha.s
~_ on Michael G. Gartner .
...1J L. ~ r her floc ffalfe n_e.. .a_ _... L
'
that wo rid seek to
Drosec---- --1C pu
The Post printed the story.
And the nation now is threat
ened.
It's threatened not because
anything the Post said about
haw our submarines listen in
on the Soviets. Rather, It's
threatened because a big pow.
erf W b newspaper ~ has been cen-
sored t th government. And
make no mistake about It, that
Is what has happened.
rev. the irnrtor of th
S Iatel1i, once en
. cutlveditor of the PtudL
~..y nVYIY VG Cuu0uWJ15a, American It ewsp ~-
.o1 -910 accused SE on- they said. `'/,rEW'1~7W`, ` Society O? ~"`?'?
~i ~. ] ffAf1_ G+K. >Lr ._ - . pe ditors.
about Pelton Then asev s
bon President Reagan, tele-
usaea weane9day a censored
article that was 5 feet 9 inches
long and that was as bland as It
was lengthy. The article quoted
Bradlee as saying he continued
to believe that the newspaper's
original version would have re-
vealed nothing that was not al-
ready known to the Soviet
Union.
Then why didn't the post
print that version? Here's how
the article explained:
"But, Bradlee added, be-
cause the Post has been unable
ftft to Judge the national security bjectito the
senior oigcials, and because of
Post lawyers' concerns, the pa-
per has decided to print this ar-
ticle without a description of
the technology Pelton alleged-
ly betrayed."
The operative words there
are "because of Post lawyers'
concerns." That's a euphe-
mism for censorship.
"Whenever something is not
published because The lawyers
say; you have a real danger,"
says Robert Sack, a partner in
the law firm of Gibson, Dunn &
Crutcher and an authority on
Fbst Amendment law.
"You're saying, 'rm not pub-
llshing because the govern-
ment told me not to."'
That, scary and chilling,
seems to be what happened
Wednesday. And that is how
the Pelton case has really
threatened our democracy.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/24: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100100061-3