The main reason these stories are not covered is because of the associated danger to the reporter. Being an investigative journalist has always been a dangerous job. During the Watergate scandal, the Nixon administration had journalists’ phones tapped. Now, in the 21st century, the means to silence these reporters are all the more subtle.
Barrett Brown is one of the few reporters covering cyber crime, and he has been in jail for the past year. According to Rolling Stone, “on Dec. 4, 2012, Barrett was indicted by a federal grand jury on 12 additional counts related to data from the Stratfor breach. Despite his lack of direct involvement in the operation and stated opposition to it, he faces these charges simply for allegedly pasting a hyperlink online.”
This refers to the link he posted on his self-created site Project PM — a think tank site similar to WikiLeaks. He is facing years of imprisonment, thousands of dollars in legal fees and a host of other legal troubles. This makes it very hard for him to focus on writing and reporting. That’s what these criminal charges are about — silencing this very vocal voice.
This past year Brown was placed on a gag order and cannot discuss any of his court cases with the media. Through gray legal proceedings, this journalist has been silenced.
Michael Hastings was another journalist whose voice we have lost forever. Hastings was a writer for both Rolling Stone and BuzzFeed, publishing articles on cyber crime, such as his article “The Rise of Killer Drones and Hack: Confessions of a Presidential Campaign Reporter.” This past year he died in a suspicious car accident.
In the days prior to his death, Hastings complained he was being followed and that his email and phone were being monitored. This was not unfounded paranoia, because the FBI did have a file on him. He was killed in a car crash, in which his vehicle accelerated and burst into flames on impact. Masses of people have called foul play, and the toxicology report found only marijuana and trace amounts of amphetamines.
The most important events of 2013 were the ones not talked about. The area of surveillance and cyber crime is complex, known only by a few, because the mainstream media does not report on it, and those journalists that do are silenced through legal tactics. As citizens we have a right to a transparent government, but it is becoming increasingly harder to understand that information. The ranks of journalists who wrote about it are diminishing. In 2013, a major blow was dealt to journalism.