By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The Justice Department accused some Ferguson officials of leaking information to the media in an effort to support Officer Darren Wilson, the Los Angeles Times reports. In recent days, details of the investigation have appeared in local and national news coverage at a time when a grand jury decision is imminent…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI has ended its controversial quest to hire a company to grade whether news is positive, neutral or negative, the Washington Times reports. The bureau abruptly removed the contract solicitation without explanation, and the FBI declined to discuss it. Journalism ethicists expressed worries about the FBI’s plans to grade news coverage….
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI wants to know how it’s perceived in the media. The Washington Times reports that the FBI is hiring a contractor to categorize news stories as “positive,” “neutral” or negative.” But what the FBI plans to do with the information remains unclear. The FBI also wouldn’t divulge why it wants the…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The Justice Department has pledged to stop secretly subpoenaing news organizations – for the most part. Fox News reports that the Justice Department is changing its policy to notify news agencies of its desire to obtain records in leak investigations. The revision will allow news organizations to challenge search warrants or subpoenas in…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com An Icelandic man is the first known FBI informant inside WikiLeaks, a secret-revealing website. Wired.com reports that Sigurdur “Siggi” Thordarson was an informant for three months in 2011 when he worked for WikiLeaks and the FBI. Ticklethewire.com mistakenly printed that Julian Paul Assange was the informant. He reportedly received $5,000 for his undercover…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Media coverage of national security issues has become more difficult because employees at federal agencies have been afraid to speak out since the FBI began its hunt for leakers of sensitive information, the New York Times reports. In one of the most thorough criminal investigations of intelligence disclosures in years, agents are…
By Allan Lengel For AOL News The Church of Scientology, which boasts such members as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, is once again steeped in controversy, thanks to a magazine article that cites numerous allegations of abusive behavior and gross misconduct. Author Lawrence Wright writes in The New Yorker magazine that ex-members told him of…
By Allan Lengel For AOL News The historic mobster roundup that collared more than 120 people in the New York region last month provided a snapshot of the Mafia of today: murder, gambling and extortion; big bosses and small fries; “made guys” and associates. But what it didn’t show was the pervasive nepotism that still…
