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\u201cOver the past two decades, public agencies have increasingly prohibited staff from communicating with journalists unless they go through public affairs offices or through political appointees,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0wrote SPJ president David Cuillier.\u00a0\u201cThis trend has been especially pronounced in the federal government. We consider these restrictions a form of censorship — an attempt to control what the public is allowed to see and hear.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Cuillier added that while agency personnel are kept mostly off limits to journalists, they are\u00a0\u201dfree [to] speak to others — lobbyists, special-interest representatives, people with money — without these controls and without public oversight.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The groups said that Obama\u2019s recent lamentations of a growing cynicism of government were peculiar given his administration\u2019s broad efforts to shroud official action and policy maneuvers in secrecy, all of which\u00a0\u201cundermines public understanding of, and trust in, government,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0the letter reads.<\/p>\n \u201cYou need look no further than your own administration for a major source of that frustration \u2014 politically driven suppression of news and information about federal agencies. We call on you to take a stand to stop the spin and let the sunshine in,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0wrote Cuillier.<\/p>\n The administration has previously dismissed similar sentiment from other journalism and watchdog groups,\u00a0including<\/a>\u00a0the White House Correspondents\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n The letter cites examples of alleged information censorship, including officials repeatedly blocking reporters\u2019 requests to talk with specific agency staff, long delays in answering questions that disregard reporters’ deadlines, officials\u2019 proclivity for offering information anonymously or\u00a0\u201con background,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0and federal agencies completely blackballing of certain journalists who write critically of them.<\/p>\n \u201cIn many cases, this is clearly being done to control what information journalists \u2013 and the audience they serve \u2013 have access to. A survey found 40 percent of public affairs officers admitted they blocked certain reporters because they did not like what they wrote,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0the letter stated.<\/p>\n The groups recommended that the president should encourage all federal agencies and their public employees to speak freely with reporters. In addition, they called for an ombudsman to keep track of any suppression efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cCreate an ombudsman to monitor and enforce your stated goal of restoring transparency to government and giving the public the unvarnished truth about its workings,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0the letter said.\u00a0\u201cThat will go a long way toward dispelling Americans\u2019 frustration and cynicism before it further poisons our democracy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n In March<\/a>, journalists at the Associated Press reported that their research indicated that the US government has withheld more information from ever under the authority of President Obama. Their findings were based mainly on how difficult it is to successfully request documents from the White House through the US Freedom of Information Act.<\/p>\n In addition, the Obama administration has been criticized for using the punitive, World War I-era Espionage Act to\u00a0punish whistleblowers<\/a>\u00a0who leak classified government information to journalists, in effect chilling press freedoms.<\/p>\n