CIA's Hayden vs. the Media

In a speech Friday at the Council on Foreign Relations, CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden said he has "very deep respect for journalists and for their profession." But then he devoted a healthy chunk of his address to critiquing media coverage of the agency.

"Just as they report on the terrorists, it’s the job of journalists to report on the how the war against terrorism is being fought," Hayden said. "And when their spotlight is cast on intelligence activities, sound judgment and a thorough understanding of all the equities at play are critically important. Revelations of sources and methods -- and an impulse to drag anything CIA does to the darkest corner of the room -- can make it very difficult for us to do our vital work."

"Journalists, on their own, simply don’t have all the facts needed to make the call on whether [intelligence] information can be released without harm," Hayden said. But then he went on to set up something of a Catch-22. The agency, he said, often can't give them that information, either.

"When the media claims an oversight role on our clandestine operations, it does so in an arena where we cannot clarify, explain, or defend our actions without doing further damage to our sources and methods."

The agency's true overseers, Hayden said, are in Congress, which has "full access to our operations and takes our security requirements into account."

For what it's worth, here's my two cents on this issue: I think Hayden has a point that more than a few journalists have a knee-jerk tendency to drag what the CIA or other federal agencies do to the "darkest corner of the room." But let's be honest: The agency has played a role in fostering such cynicism through its own performance historically. And I don't think that journalists should cede their role in overseeing what the CIA does to Congress or anyone else. Because it's simply not unheard of that the people's representatives on Capitol Hill would be complicit in an effort to keep vital information about the agency from the public without valid reason.

Obviously, this is an area that cries out for responsible journalism -- and the agency can help in that effort by doing everything in its power to work with journalists to explain why certain activities must be kept under wraps.