Request for transcript: "Writers Especially Concerned About NSA Actions"

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ARUN RATH, HOST: 

It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR West. I'm Arun Rath.

Revelations about the massive size and extent of the NSA surveillance
practices have reignited the debate over how to balance security needs with
privacy rights. Some writers feel those privacy concerns more acutely. A new
report from the PEN American Center, a membership organization of writers,
finds that a large majority of its members say they have, quote, "never been
as worried about privacy rights and freedom of the press as they are today."
Some of those respondents say it's changing the way they work.

Joining me now is Suzanne Nossel. She's the executive director of the PEN
American Center. Suzanne, welcome.

SUZANNE NOSSEL: Thank you for having me.

RATH: So, first, let's talk about the survey a little bit. What were you
looking to find out?

NOSSEL: Well, when the Snowden revelations first broke over the summer, we
saw some Pew polls that showed that many Americans were essentially
shrugging their shoulders, not too concerned. And so we wondered whether
writers felt the same way or whether they rely on free expression for their
craft, their livelihood, we might get a different response.

And what we saw and got back is that they are far more alarmed about these
revelations than the general public. Sixty-six percent of writers who
responded to our survey said that they disapproved of the government's
collection of telephone and Internet data as part of antiterrorism efforts
compared to just 44 percent of the general public.

RATH: So writers, or at least this group of PEN writers, they're more
bothered by the surveillance. But in terms of doing their work, are they
frightened?

NOSSEL: Some of them are. We asked people to report on the degree to which
they've actually modified their behavior in response to these revelations,
and significant proportions said that they are. About 28 percent said that
they had curtailed or avoided social media activities. Twenty-four percent
said that they're avoiding certain subjects in telephone or email
conversations. And 16 percent said that they'd actually steered away from
tackling particular topics in their writing because of concern of government
surveillance.

RATH: Now, I know myself, being brown and having a funny name, when I've
covered national security stories, I've wondered am I drawing attention to
myself in a way that might not be great. But I just go ahead and do it. Are
you saying that people are having that same thought and just thinking, I'm
not going to research this at all?

NOSSEL: Some are. In some cases, it was coverage of the military, coverage
of national security issues, communications with people overseas,
particularly in certain countries, covering mass incarceration, in one case
covering abortion issues. So I think it is distressing to see that
significant proportions of writers are thinking about this, it's weighing on
them. They're actually modifying their behavior.

Maybe they need to, maybe they don't. But the fact that they're doing it
means that we're not hearing, reading, learning of some of the ideas and
stories that they might otherwise be writing.

RATH: There was another reaction - you may have seen it. This is from David
Ulin, the book critic for the L.A. Times who - his reaction was basically,
what's wrong with the writers? Why are they cowing so quickly? Why are they
being so fast to self-censor?

NOSSEL: Well, some writers did say, absolutely not. They wrote back to us
and said, you know, there's no way that I would refrain from taking on a
topic, and I'm not afraid of this. But at the same time, when you look at
what's happened in certain quarters of our community - I mean, I'll give the
example of investigative journalists and people who've been on the receiving
end of some of the leaks who the government, the Obama administration has
gone after, has in some cases prosecuted. And so it's hard to say that
everybody who's worried is worried needlessly.

RATH: Suzanne Nossel is executive director of the PEN American Center.
Suzanne, thank you.

NOSSEL: Thanks very much.

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Subject: Request for transcript: "Writers Especially Concerned About NSA
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"Writers Especially Concerned About NSA Actions"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=245660885

While polls show many Americans are uneasy with government actions
revealed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden, one profession in particular
seems to be alarmed. A new survey of professional writers finds them
much more concerned than the general public. An organization of
writers says that a large majority of its members have "never been as
worried about privacy rights and freedom of the press as they are
today."