Tonight, the efforts of GAP’s National Security & Human Rights program are highlighted in separate events on national television and at Georgetown University.
At 8 p.m. EDT, C-SPAN is slated to air its coverage of GAP’s American Whistleblower Tourstop at the University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, which took place earlier this month. That event featured Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, NSA whistleblower Tom Drake, and GAP National Security & Human Rights Director Jesselyn Radack – three prominent figures in the ongoing debate over constitutional privacy rights in the face of growing government surveillance. The program, Patriot or Traitor? Whistleblowing and Journalism in the Age of Government Surveillance, explores the critical balance between civil liberties and national security. As a preview, C-SPAN is already airing a 3-minute clip of Ellsberg speaking at the event.
Whistleblower supporters living in the Washington, DC area have the opportunity to hear from these three patriots live tonight. At 7 p.m. EDT, Georgetown University’s Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice presents Beyond Orwell: Surveillance, Secrets, and Whistleblowers in the Security State, billed as “an evening of talks and discussion by prominent whistleblowers of our time and the journalists who brought their disclosures to light.” This discussion features Ellsberg and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald joining the conversation via video link, as well as Drake, Radack, whistleblower Coleen Rowley and activist Ray McGovern in person.
GAP’s American Whistleblower Tour is dedicated to educating the public – particularly university students – about whistleblowers and whistleblowing. In addition to tonight’s airing of the USC event, the Tour visits Stanford University later today and West Chester University (Pennsylvania) tomorrow. The latter stop also has a national security focus, as NSA whistleblowers Drake and Bill Binney are set to inform students about the dangers of the growing national security state.
Dylan Blaylock is Communications Director for the Government Accountability Project, the nation’s leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.