Investigative reporter Gup turns his attention to a broad range of American institutions, exposing how and why they keep secrets from the very people they are supposed to serve. Drawing on original reporting and analysis, Gup argues that a preoccupation with secrets has undermined the very values--security, patriotism, privacy, the national interest--in whose name secrecy is so often invoked. He shows how the expanding thicket of classified information leads to the devaluation of the secrets we most need to keep, and that journalists have become pawns in the government's internal conflicts over access to information. He explores the exploitation of privacy and confidentiality in academia, business, and the courts, and concludes that in case after case, these principles have been twisted to allow the emergence of a shadow system of justice, unaccountable to the public.--From publisher description.
|
