Editors defend stories that had US govt on boil

Under criticism from the Bush administration for stories on the government tracking millions of financial records to curb terrorist funding...

Under criticism from the Bush administration for stories on the government tracking millions of financial records to curb terrorist funding, top editors of two leading American dailies have said the decision to publish or hold such stories cannot be surrendered to the government.

‘‘The virulent hatred espoused by terrorists, judging by their literature, is directed not just against our people and our buildings. It is also aimed at our values, at our freedoms and at our faith in self-government of an informed electorate. If freedom of the press makes some Americans uneasy, it is anathema to the ideologists of terror,’’ the editors said in articles published in The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times.

‘‘We understand that honourable people may disagree with any of these choices—to publish or not to publish. But making those decisions is the responsibility that falls to editors, a corollary to the great gift of our independence. It is not a responsibility we take lightly. And it is not one we can surrender to the government,’’ said Dean Baquet, LAT editor, and Bill Keller, NYT executive editor, in an op-ed piece.

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They agreed they have faced excruciating choices in covering the government’s efforts to protect the country from terrorists. ‘‘Each of us has, on a number of occasions, withheld information because we were convinced publishing it could put lives at risk.’’

Referring to the report on banking transactions, the two said their job was to ‘‘bring our readers information that will enable them to judge how well their elected leaders are fighting on their behalf, and at what price’’.

They said journalists had a large and personal stake in the country’s security. ‘‘Reporters and photographers from both of our papers braved the collapsing towers of the World Trade Center to convey the horror to the world.’’ The two editors asserted their papers in the recent years have brought information theWhite House never intended for people to know.

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