TOP SECRET TALKS
A Discussion Series on the Tension Between the Public's Right to Know and the Government's Need to Keep Information Secret
Three decades before the world had ever heard of Julian Assange or the website WikiLeaks, an American military analyst and his unauthorized release of the Pentagon Papers established the defining precedent in the battle between national security and the freedom of the press. But, the decision to print the controversial war report was far from an easy one. As the play TOP SECRET: The Battle For The Pentagon Papers, makes clear, the editors of the New York Times and Washington Post carefully weighed national security concerns before reaching their decision to publish.Sponsored by the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy, TOP SECRET TALKS was a 2010 discussion series that brought together leading journalists, scholars, and academics as well as current and former government officials to reflect on the questions raised by the story of the Pentagon Papers. New technology continues to alter the current relationship between the press and government in matters related to national security.
"Today, Ellsberg would have just released this on the internet," playwright Geoffrey Cowan prophetically explained at the February 25th discussion at the New York Theatre Workshop, months before WikiLeaks made international headlines.
This website has chronicled the TOP SECRET TALKS in an effort to serve as a resource for the unfolding debate between the public's right to know and the government's need to keep information secret. Audio and video clips of each of the thirteen talks can be found under Schedule of Events.
Check back in the coming weeks for the complete report on the TOP SECRET TALKS.
