{ title: 'The beacon. (Babylon, N.Y.) 1972-current, July 29, 2010, Page 4, Image 4', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031349/2010-07-29/ed-1/seq-4/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031349/2010-07-29/ed-1/seq-4.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031349/2010-07-29/ed-1/seq-4/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031349/2010-07-29/ed-1/seq-4/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
Image provided by: Suffolk Cooperative Library System
4 . BEACON NEWSPAPER, July 2 9 ,2010 -G u e s t E d i t o r i a l : DRAWING CONCLUSIONS —by Kevin Eastwood Subscribers can post comments oh this letter and other letters, stories and ar ticles and photographs in this newspaper a t www.babylonbeacon.com R e a d e r s ’ V o i c e s : Letters and Commentary Congress must prioritize it spending and programs It’s time to pass a Federal Shield law by Kevin Z. Smith During the course o f its investigation into the current Gulf o f Mexico oil spill, The Associated Press was giv en information from the then-office o f Mineral Man agement Services that was not making a lot of sense. As millions of gallons of crude spewed into the gulf waters and the oversight by MMS officials on BP s well was being called into question, an anonymous source in that office gave reporters far different stories than what they had been initially told. This anonymous source set the record straight by coming forward and speaking out, and suddenly the world knew that this was more than a mechanical failure; it was a full system failure. The people hired to keep these events from occurring were ignoring their responsibilities. At times, anonymous sources provide crucial infor mation to the press. Stories o f oil disasters may be the latest, but without citizens coming forward and shar ing vital information, Americans would not know about steroids in sports, excessive military spending, or food and drug hazards. Even the Watergate scan dal would be unknown to the public. A bill currently in the U.S. Senate will help assure such stories continue to reach the public. S. 448, The Free Flow o f Information Act will protect journalists’ sources and ensure they are not exposed in all but a few circumstances including where national security concerns are raised. The current version is five years in the making. More than than 50 journalism orga nizations, the White House, the Justice Department and most o f your Congressional delegation support it. Most states have laws that can protect a source’s iden tity from overzealous prosecutors and judges, but there is no such protection yet at the federal level. S. 448 would change that and extend the same protec tions offered through statute or common law in 49 states to the hiational government. Without it, stories focusing on the federal government will not be told because reporters are faced with threats of jail time and fines if they do not turn on their sources. Subpoenas against the press numbered more than 3,000 nationwide in 2006 with 335 issued by federal prosecutors seeking the identities o f news sources, according to a survey conducted by a Brigham Young University law professor. More than a few journalists have spent time in jail and others have been forced out of the profession by heavy fines that crippled them fi nancially. These are all heavy-handed tactics to elicit the names of people who can then be identified and retaliated against. Media companies large and small faced with the enormous expenses of fighting such legal battles to protect sources are ton in g their backs on compelling stories. As S. 448 awaits permission from key senate lead ership to come to the floor for a full vote, all sena tors, representing the interests of American citizens, need to hdfcr |rom their constituents. Citizens who value the importance of transparency in governance and think the American press needs to continue to serve as the witchdog on the federal government should tell theii senators to support this measure. The clock is ticking as Congress will recess in August. Tell your senator to have the bill moved to a full Sen ate vote as soon as possible and support its passage. Without this bill, stories that affect lives, like the oil spill in the Gulf, will never get the detailed atten tion they need to bring about change. Without this bill, your government has a better chance of operat ing in darkness or lying its way out of trouble. Help bring this to an end by voicing support for S. 448. Only when there is a free flow of information from the government to its people can we truly appreciate the beauty and power o f a democracy. Kevin Z. Smith is the 2009-2010 national p resident o f the Society o f P rofessional Journalists. Reach him at ksm ith@spj.org. For m ore on SPJ’s w ork to im prove and protect journalism , see www.spj.org. Dear Editor: It is time for some more straight talk on our nation al leadership crisis and the 16 trillion dollar debt. We have to vote the big spending politicians out o f office in November of this year. Starting in January our new Congress needs to establish a list of budget items for the next year’s budget. The important items must go to the top o f the list and the want items go to the bot tom of the list. What is important and not important needs to be decided by all senators and members of Congress. Then congress must establish an affordable tax rate for taxpayers. Congress will then vote to fund the most important tax items and will not fund the want items on the list. , ■ This budget plan has been used by the state of Vir ginia where last year’s budget was 4 billion dollars in the red and this year’s budget is 400 million dollars in the black. What Richmond politicians did can be done by the Washington, D.C. politicians. Let’s not follow the example set by Greece in 2010. Ernest A. Howell, Massapequa The Beacon Newspaper invites readers to present their views, ideas and issues. Please submit letters to the editor to us at 65 Deer Park Ave., Babylon NY 11702. Letters should be signed and include a daytime telephone number fo r verification purposes only. We do not accept personal thank you notes, political endorsements or anonymous letters, but will, under some circumstances withhold the name o f a writer upon request. BEACON NEWSPAPERS Postage Paid ■ Babylon Post O ffice, Babylon, NY 11702 (USPS0396-8000) Copyright 1999 CJ PUBLISHERS, INC. “THE PAPER THAT WORKS” A combination o f newspapers and editions covering Babylon, Lindenhurst, Copiague, Massapequa, A m ityvile, North Babylon, West Babylon, Wyandanch, Deer Park, D ix H ills, Wheatley Heights, West IsHp, Brentwood, Brightwaters, Bay Shore, l si ip, East ¡slip, Oakdale, Sayvtte, E. Patchogue, Patchogue, Bohemia, Hofbnook, North UndenhursL Main Office: 65 Deer Park Ave., Babylon, NY Official Newspaper for the Towns o f Babylon Olsl'ip Official Newspaper for the Village of Babylon and Babylon School D istrict ■ Lindenhurst School D istrict, West Babylon School D istrict • Deer Park School D istrict ■ North Babylon School D istrict - West Islip School D istrict ■ Copiague School District • Wyandanch School D istrict The Beacon— the paper that works DEADLINES FOR THE NEXT EDITION:: ADVERTISING: 3 P.M. FRIDAY EDITORIAL: 3 P.M. THURSDAY PHONE: (631) 587-5612 FAX: (631) 587-0198' FOUNDERS EDWARD D. WOLFE, JANE D. WOLFE PUBLISHERS: CAROLYN A ALFRED JAMES STAFF DONNA CONSOLA LYNN GK3UAT1 E-MAIL ADDRESS: acjnews@rcn.com Postm aster Please return a ll change oF addresses to: <5 D eer P a rk A v e , B abylon N Y 11701 All items sent to The Beacon tor publication consideration become the property o f The Beacon. Composition Responsibility: The newspaper w ill not be liable for errors appearing in any advertisement beyond the cost o f space occupied by the errdT. S u b scription Rates: By M a ll In NY State: $25 p er year $40 lo r 2 years O u t o f S ta te : $35 p e r year / $60 fo r 2 years Senior C itizens over 63 Take 10% Discount Paid Subscriptions are non-refundable. Copies: SOf within 6 weeks of publication. 7S( for all others, as available.
