CNN either broke the law or is lying

www.cnn.com...

a U.S. defense official, who could not be named because the official was not authorized to speak to the media,

cnn is admitting that they spoke to a current military person without authorization about sensitive material. Bradley Manning was locked in a cage for leaking unauthorized info to the press
m.newyorker.com...

So what? The Communist News Network gets a pass?

Either CNN broke the law or is lying, and the 'unauthorized' person really was authorized to say this, and the media is just acting as the government mouthpiece.

reply to post by Lord Jules


CNN broke no laws.. The guy not being authorized to speak doesn't sound like he was told not to, just that it's not official. The Navy released a statement that says the same thing the unnamed guy said..

No one is in trouble here.

A US defense official- could possibly not be a military member. Don't know if that makes a difference legally but just wanted to point that out.

Lots of people speak on the condition of anonymity, be that to protect their jobs, avoid legal issues, or just not be identified to avoid notoriety.

Without these people, we would never hear about things before they happened. The other side of that coin is that these leaks (if they aren't actually simply a test of the public attention span in some cases) can also keep something from happening altogether by virtue of public opinion.

(EDIT)
The other possible outcome is that the public opinion can hasten the advance of these issues that are being discussed as well.

Personally, I'd rather know about things that the government is doing, than to have them just pop up out of nowhere.

On top of what was just said reporters are also protected by shield laws. This allows journalists to report on confidential information without having to identify their source in a court of law. It also protects them from prosecution for reporting on confidential material. This allows for journalists to actually do their job without having to worry about jail time.

It wouldnt be CNN that broke any laws it would be the person that gave them the info. If you are not cleared to talk to the press you are forbidden to in the military no matter if you are a civilian or not.

Since when did whistleblowers ever have permission from their organization to talk to the press? Sounds like you don't mind when the government just never tells us anything except the carefully modified "truth."

Originally posted by Kman1324
It wouldnt be CNN that broke any laws it would be the person that gave them the info. If you are not cleared to talk to the press you are forbidden to in the military no matter if you are a civilian or not.

Tell that to Julian Assange. Obviously he also got in trouble for simply passing along info from someone else. My opinion is CNN didn't break any laws, they are just LYING because this unofficial source is saying something that benefits the US without the need of being official. Just trying to point out tye hypocrisy of political madness, I know no one will be arrested for this.

Originally posted by Lord Jules
www.cnn.com...

a U.S. defense official, who could not be named because the official was not authorized to speak to the media,

cnn is admitting that they spoke to a current military person without authorization about sensitive material. Bradley Manning was locked in a cage for leaking unauthorized info to the press
m.newyorker.com...

So what? The Communist News Network gets a pass?

Either CNN broke the law or is lying, and the 'unauthorized' person really was authorized to say this, and the media is just acting as the government mouthpiece.

Is this the first time you have watched the news? You see this same statement on every network since dawn on TV news coverage. People speak off the record, while those people may be breaking a law the news organizarion is not they are simply reporting what they are told. Welcome to how the news works.

Bradley Manning broke the law because he's Army personnel.

CNN, whatever your opinion of them, isn't breaking the law because they haven't signed an NDA nor are they sworn custodians of sensitive government data.

reply to post by Lord Jules


Julian Assange didn't break any laws either.

There is no law against media organizations or personnel using classified data.

Again the only crimes committed were by Manning.