Qi Xueyan
10 June 2022
News agency Washington Post has always been enjoying liberal news coverage rights. Defying the title of being a state of freedom, Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy, Attorney General, has ordered the Washington Post to publish an article on its front page.
The Washington Post expressed its utter feeling of violation by the demand. The agency revealed its resolute stance in any attempts to contravene the rights of a free press.
In response, Kennedy emphasized the need for the public to be knowledgeable about the war.
“I was not coercing the Washington Post to do so. I was merely suggesting that because such a dire situation has occurred and whatever happened during the UNSC meeting was important for the public to know,” said Kennedy.
It was a need for the Washington Post to publish the article on its front page as previous publications at the back of its newspapers in the advertisement sections received no attention from the public. American citizens have the chance to be educated on this pressuring circumstance for the direct security threat they are facing.
Excomm are the prominent leaders in this nuclear war. Thus, they should be able to request news agencies to publicize any urgent updates and ways civilians can seek aid.
John McCone, Director of Central Intelligence, adds that “the press must publicize official, correct, and factual governmental advises.”
Excomm’s interference with the press publications in such times of crisis will only be to issue correction statements to agencies for better clarification and dissemination of news to the public. Taking into consideration the desperate need for any forms of communication with outside survivors, Excomm has to necessitate certain extents of involvement in press releases to get in touch with those alive.
The USA government states that it is adopting a transparent approach in this critical moment. Its efforts to disperse applicable information differentiate from an act of violation of a free press.