– ‘The Guardian’ falls under the shadow of McCarthyism (EL PAIS, Dec 8, 2013):
The persecution of the UK newspaper over the NSA espionage case shows how the Cameron administration has moved away from moderation
The internet offers many definitions of McCarthyism, named after US Senator Joe McCarthy, who launched a campaign of persecution against alleged communists and traitors between 1950 and 1954, during the Cold War. Let us drop the part about the communists and focus on the traitors instead. Now, consider what is happening to British daily The Guardian for exposing the mass citizen surveillance conducted by US and UK intelligence agencies, and for publishing a portion of the documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines McCarthyism as “the practice of publicizing accusations of political disloyalty or subversion with insufficient regard to evidence” or as “the use of unfair investigatory or accusatory methods in order to suppress opposition.” Either definition could apply to The Guardian, now the victim of a campaign launched by the secret services and encouraged by media industry rivals, as well as by UK Prime Minister David Cameron with the inestimable help of the Conservative Party and the odd Labour member.
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