The Committee to Protect Journalists, on whose board I sit, wrote to the US Justice Department to protest its actions against the Associated Prerss.

The letter is available here.

To quote from the letter:

“Our board of directors rarely has seen the need to raise its collective voice against U.S. government actions that threaten newsgathering. Today, however, we do see that need: We write you to vigorously protest the secret seizing of phone records of The Associated Press. The overly broad scope of the secret subpoena and the lack of notification to the AP by the Justice Department represent a damaging setback for press freedom in the United States. …

The actions of your department undermine press freedom in this country. Just as troubling, they set a terrible example for the rest of the world, where governments routinely justify intervention in the media by citing national security.”