Homeland security : implications for information policy and practicefirst appraisal
By: Lotte E. Feinberg
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Material type: 
ArticlePublisher: New York : PERGAMON, 2002Government Information Quarterly 19, 3, p. 265-288Abstract: Setting information policy in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks has become far more complex and difficult than at any time in our historyone in which the risks of error, for example, providing information to terrorists that could lead to widespread death and destruction, could be catastrophic. The parameters are rapidly changing, and there are a number of contradictory factors simultaneously restricting and expanding access to different kinds of information. While it is reasonable, and probably necessary, to reassess much of what is made available to members of the public, on request or by government initiative, there is also a serious danger of applying secrecy constraints where none are needed or where the fundamental openness that supports democracy would be seriously deformedwhether applied to understanding what our government is doing or engaging in scientific exchange. This essay represents a snapshot of what some of the major issues look like six months after the attacks (some clear, some muddled, some contradictory); the purpose is to encourage debate among the various interests that is essential to a democracy
Setting information policy in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks has become far more complex and difficult than at any time in our historyone in which the risks of error, for example, providing information to terrorists that could lead to widespread death and destruction, could be catastrophic. The parameters are rapidly changing, and there are a number of contradictory factors simultaneously restricting and expanding access to different kinds of information. While it is reasonable, and probably necessary, to reassess much of what is made available to members of the public, on request or by government initiative, there is also a serious danger of applying secrecy constraints where none are needed or where the fundamental openness that supports democracy would be seriously deformedwhether applied to understanding what our government is doing or engaging in scientific exchange. This essay represents a snapshot of what some of the major issues look like six months after the attacks (some clear, some muddled, some contradictory); the purpose is to encourage debate among the various interests that is essential to a democracy
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