--- title: Surveillance is Hurting Journalists and Defense Attorneys, Report Says description: The ACLU and Human Rights Watch document the chilling effect they say NSA surveillance has had on journalism and the legal profession canonical: https://time.com/3048380/government-spying-hurts-journalists-and-lawyers-report-says/ author: Denver Nicks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-28T19:08:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T08:57:56.226Z article:section: Politics og:title: Surveillance is Hurting Journalists and Defense Attorneys, Report Says og:description: The ACLU and Human Rights Watch document the chilling effect they say NSA surveillance has had on journalism and the legal profession og:url: https://time.com/3048380/government-spying-hurts-journalists-and-lawyers-report-says/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1d548eba3990a50/69869d6be53aba012f4d3c1f/surveillance-journalists-government-washington.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4200 og:image:height: 2363 og:image:alt: US Government Capitol Surveillance og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Surveillance is Hurting Journalists and Defense Attorneys, Report Says twitter:description: The ACLU and Human Rights Watch document the chilling effect they say NSA surveillance has had on journalism and the legal profession twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1d548eba3990a50/69869d6be53aba012f4d3c1f/surveillance-journalists-government-washington.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Government Spying Hurts Journalists and Lawyers, Report Says > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=b2daa1f2-adb5-4303-b334-f16f4ccf8a86&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Human Rights Watch: NSA Surveillance Restricts Press Freedom [Watch (HLS stream): Human Rights Watch: NSA Surveillance Restricts Press Freedom](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/W9FUOnVP.m3u8) (2:49)  _Published 2014-07-28_  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Jul 28, 2014 7:08 PM UTC  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Jul 28, 2014 7:08 PM UTC **Updated at 4:51 p.m.** National Security Agency surveillance in the U.S. has seriously hurt the ability of journalists to cover national security issues and of attorneys, particularly defense lawyers, to represent their clients, according to a new [report](https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/28/us-surveillance-harming-journalism-law-democracy) out Monday. Based on interviews in the United States with 46 journalists, 42 practicing attorneys, and five current or former senior government officials, the report seeks to document the tangible impact of NSA surveillance on Americans revealed by former NSA contractor [Edward Snowden](http://time.com/2953495/edward-snowden-privacy-nsa/). In particular, the report cites the degree to which the Obama administration’s tough crackdown on unauthorized leaks, in combination with revelations about the extent of government surveillance on Americans’ cell phones and online communications, has caused sources to vanish for national security reporters. “Sources are worried that being connected to a journalists through some sort of electronic record will be seen as suspicious and that they will be punished as a result,” said study author Alex Sinha, a fellow at Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union, which jointly issued the report. “As a result sources are less willing to talk to the press about anything, including unclassified matters that could be of significant public concern,” he said. “I had a source whom I’ve known for years whom I wanted to talk to about a particular subject and this person said, ‘It’s not classified but I can’t talk about it because if they find out they’ll kill me,’ \[figuratively speaking\]” longtime National Security Correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers Jonathan Landay said for the report. “It’s a terrible time to be covering government,” Tom Gjelten, a National Public Radio employee for more than 30 years, said. TIME was not listed among the news outlets from which reporters, many of whom chose to remain anonymous, were interviewed for the report. Defense attorneys, who represent clients charged with a wide variety of offenses including terrorism, drug and financial crimes, among others, described how U.S. government surveillance has forced them to take extraordinary and often cumbersome measures to protect the privacy of sources and clients. Such measures might include the use of complex encryption technologies, disposable “burner” cell phones, so called “air-gapped” computers, which are never connected to the internet as a precaution against hacking and surveillance, and in some cases abandoning electronic communications entirely. “I’ll be damned if I have to start acting like a drug dealer in order to protect my client’s confidentiality,” said national security defense attorney Tom Durkin for the report. “We are fearful that our communications with witnesses abroad are monitored \[and\] might put people in harm’s way,” said Jason Wright, who has represented terrorism clients as a military defense attorney before the Guantánamo commissions. A [report](http://time.com/2966463/nsa-spying-surveillance-cybersecurity-privacy-advocates-schneier/) released earlier this month by The New America Foundation argues the NSA deliberately weakens cybersecurity, making online communications, study authors argue, less secure in general. The NSA has “minimization procedures” designed to limit the exposure of “US Persons”—Americans at home or abroad and others legally inside the United States—to the NSA’s wide-net surveillance programs. Privacy advocates contend they are insufficient and that, in any case, it’s impossible to verify their effectiveness because the details remain secret. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence told TIME that, contrary to revealing a decrease in press freedom, the Snowden leaks are evidence that journalism in the United States remains robust and unencumbered. “The Intelligence Community, like all Americans, supports a free and robust press,” said Jeffrey Anchukaitis, spokesperson for Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. “The events of the last year demonstrate that the IC’s foreign intelligence surveillance activities clearly have not prevented vigorous reporting on intelligence activities. U.S. intelligence activities are focused on discovering and developing intelligence about valid foreign intelligence targets to help defend the nation, not on intimidating or inhibiting journalists. Likewise, the IC recognizes the importance of the attorney-client privilege, and has procedures in place to ensure that appropriate protection is given to privileged attorney-client communications.” To address problems raised in the report, HRW and the ACLU recommend reforming U.S. surveillance practices, reducing state secrecy in general and limitations on official contact with journalists, enhanced whistleblower protections and strengthened minimization procedures. The report comes just days before the expected unveiling in the Senate of the latest iteration of the USA [Freedom Act](http://time.com/2970766/privacy-freedom-act-reform-secret-nsa-oversight-fisa/), a bill to reform NSA surveillance practices. An earlier House version of the bill was significantly gutted of reform measures, leading privacy advocates to pull support for the bill and try instead to get more substantial reforms through the Senate. ## Transcript [00:02] Protecting a source is paramount for me. If I can't report a [00:06] story without keeping a source safe, I'm not gonna report [00:10] the story. But what is clear now is that it doesn't necessarily [00:13] require a reporter to reveal the sources. The United States [00:16] Government is collecting huge amounts of information. [00:20] Electronic records of e- mails, phone calls, actual [00:24] chat conversations, photographs. Journalists are afraid that [00:28] there's a record of their communications, of their [00:31] interaction and that that's going to feed into a leak [00:34] investigation or into a leak prosecution. What we found out [00:38] through the Snowden disclosures. Is that the United States [00:42] Government is collecting all of our metadata, which [00:47] shows who your social and professional networks are. [00:50] Who your connections are. Where you are at a particular [00:53] time. Where, perhaps, a source is. They don't need to know [00:57] what you were talking about. They've got enough to be [01:00] able to go to your source and say, why were you talking to [01:02] this journalist? A lot of officials won't even talk about [01:05] unclassified things. They won't wave you off a story, they [01:08] won't confirm an unclassified detail because it's not worth [01:12] the headache, it's not worth the risk. I think anybody who is [01:15] a good reporter now has to think about how do you contact [01:17] somebody. Without leaving, you know, electronic crumbs, a [01:21] trail of crumbs behind you that sort of directs potential [01:24] investigators to your source. Now when it comes to [01:27] protecting a source, I've had to teach myself. You know [01:31] using encryption engine, this kind of thing. I don't take my [01:34] iPhone with me when I go to meet a source. Unless you [01:36] take the battery out, you can still be tracked. I was [01:41] leaked classified. Intelligence community documents last [01:45] year that catalog quite a few years of US drone strikes [01:49] in Pakistan. I went to considerable lengths to protect [01:53] my source, and I'm not gonna tell you what it is. We [01:57] sometimes feel, or I feel, at least, like you're operating like [01:59] somebody in the mafia, gotta go round with a bagful of [02:02] quarters and, if you can find a payphone, use it, or use, like [02:05] drug dealers use, you know, throwaway burner phones. [02:08] These are all the steps that we have to take to get rid of an [02:11] electronic trail. To have to take those kind of steps. You [02:14] know, makes journalists feel like we're criminals, and like [02:16] we're doing something wrong. And I don't think we are. I [02:18] think we're providing a useful service to Americans to [02:23] know what's going on in their government and what's [02:24] happening. We've taken for granted for a very long time the [02:28] work of these journalists in getting to us information about [02:31] what the government is doing. And if we allow the [02:34] government. To restrict the way journalists work [02:38] and interact with their sources, we will start to see less [02:41] information about the government and therefore be less [02:44] able to hold the government accountable ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3048380/government-spying-hurts-journalists-and-lawyers-report-says/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3048380/government-spying-hurts-journalists-and-lawyers-report-says/"},"headline":"Government Spying Hurts Journalists and Lawyers, Report Says","datePublished":"2014-07-28T19:08:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T08:57:56.226Z","description":"A Human Rights Watch and American Civil Liberties Union report suggests NSA snooping prevents sources talking to journalists and compromises the relationships between defense attorneys and their clients","url":"https://time.com/3048380/government-spying-hurts-journalists-and-lawyers-report-says/","keywords":["National Security","NSA","Surveillance","Edward Snowden","Journalism","Snowden","ACLU","intelligence","justice"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1d548eba3990a50/69869d6be53aba012f4d3c1f/surveillance-journalists-government-washington.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1d548eba3990a50/69869d6be53aba012f4d3c1f/surveillance-journalists-government-washington.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US Government Capitol Surveillance","caption":"US Government Capitol Surveillance","creditText":"Jose Luis Magana—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/national-security/","name":"National Security"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3048380/government-spying-hurts-journalists-and-lawyers-report-says/","name":"Government Spying Hurts Journalists and Lawyers, Report Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Human Rights Watch: NSA Surveillance Restricts Press Freedom","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/W9FUOnVP/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-07-28T14:29:56.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/W9FUOnVP.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3048380/government-spying-hurts-journalists-and-lawyers-report-says/","duration":"PT2M49S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3048380/government-spying-hurts-journalists-and-lawyers-report-says/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```