{"id":7472,"date":"2013-08-09T14:35:01","date_gmt":"2013-08-09T18:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/?p=7472"},"modified":"2013-08-09T14:35:01","modified_gmt":"2013-08-09T18:35:01","slug":"we-need-a-whistleblower-prize-radley-balko","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2013\/08\/we-need-a-whistleblower-prize-radley-balko.html","title":{"rendered":"“We Need a Whistleblower Prize”: Radley Balko"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

at HuffPo:<\/p>\n

\u2026High-level whistleblowers know when they come forward that they\u2019re sacrificing their national security clearance, likely their jobs, and quite possibly their freedom. Set aside for a moment what you think about the actions of Bradley Manning or Edward Snowden. Imagine you have a top-level security clearance, and you discover in the course of your work evidence of illegal government activity. Even going through the proper internal channels carries risks, and aren\u2019t likely to change much, anyway. (Thomas Drake, remember, actually went through the proper internal channels to expose government spying \u2014 he was prosecuted, anyway. He now works at an Apple store.) Would you risk your career, your lifestyle, your family\u2019s security, and possibly your freedom to expose it? How serious would it need to be for your to consider going public?<\/p>\n

It needn\u2019t even be something as dire as national security. I\u2019ve seen and reported on countless law enforcement officers whose careers were cut short (or worse<\/a>) when they reported wrongdoing by other cops<\/a>, or more systemic problems<\/a> within their police agencies.<\/p>\n

It seems to me that we\u2019re asking an awful lot of whistleblowers. We\u2019re hoping their sense of right and wrong and devotion to public service will compel them to come forward even if that likely means an end to their career in public service \u2014 at best. If we really value whistleblowers, we need to provide them with a bit more incentive. And it needs to come from the private sector. The government certainly isn\u2019t going to reward them for exposing government malfeasance, President Obama\u2019s campaign promises notwithstanding.<\/a><\/p>\n

A series of prizes for government employees who risk their livelihoods to shed light on government abuse might be one way to provide an incentive for more whistleblowing. It needn\u2019t just be one big prize. Think about a foundation that might give out multiple prizes, at all levels of government.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

more<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

at HuffPo: \u2026High-level whistleblowers know when they come forward that they\u2019re sacrificing their national security clearance, likely their jobs, and quite possibly their freedom. Set aside for a moment what you think about the actions of Bradley Manning or Edward Snowden. Imagine you have a top-level security clearance, and you discover in the course of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1071,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[171,46,181,51],"class_list":["post-7472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abuse-of-power-comes-as-no-surprise","tag-our-enemy-the-state","tag-radley-balko","tag-so-far-from-god-so-close-to-the-united-states"],"yoast_head":"\n"We Need a Whistleblower Prize": Radley Balko<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"at HuffPo: ...High-level whistleblowers know when they come forward that they're sacrificing their national security clearance, likely their jobs, and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2013\/08\/we-need-a-whistleblower-prize-radley-balko.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""We Need a Whistleblower Prize": Radley Balko\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"at HuffPo: ...High-level whistleblowers know when they come forward that they're sacrificing their national security clearance, likely their jobs, and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2013\/08\/we-need-a-whistleblower-prize-radley-balko.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eve Tushnet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-08-09T18:35:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eve Tushnet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eve Tushnet\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2013\/08\/we-need-a-whistleblower-prize-radley-balko.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2013\/08\/we-need-a-whistleblower-prize-radley-balko.html\",\"name\":\"\\\"We Need a Whistleblower Prize\\\": Radley Balko\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-08-09T18:35:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-08-09T18:35:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/ca04686b93c92257f019070302a23415\"},\"description\":\"at HuffPo: ...High-level whistleblowers know when they come forward that they're sacrificing their national security clearance, likely their jobs, and\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2013\/08\/we-need-a-whistleblower-prize-radley-balko.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2013\/08\/we-need-a-whistleblower-prize-radley-balko.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2013\/08\/we-need-a-whistleblower-prize-radley-balko.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“We Need a Whistleblower Prize”: Radley Balko\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/\",\"name\":\"Eve Tushnet\",\"description\":\"Conservatism reborn in twisted sisterhood\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/ca04686b93c92257f019070302a23415\",\"name\":\"Eve Tushnet\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be87ff28da150cb07788911c22e42ae2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be87ff28da150cb07788911c22e42ae2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Eve Tushnet\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/author\/evetushnet\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"We Need a Whistleblower Prize\": Radley Balko","description":"at HuffPo: ...High-level whistleblowers know when they come forward that they're sacrificing their national security clearance, likely their jobs, and","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2013\/08\/we-need-a-whistleblower-prize-radley-balko.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"We Need a Whistleblower Prize\": Radley Balko","og_description":"at HuffPo: ...High-level whistleblowers know when they come forward that they're sacrificing their national security clearance, likely their jobs, and","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2013\/08\/we-need-a-whistleblower-prize-radley-balko.html","og_site_name":"Eve Tushnet","article_published_time":"2013-08-09T18:35:01+00:00","author":"Eve Tushnet","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Eve Tushnet","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2013\/08\/we-need-a-whistleblower-prize-radley-balko.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2013\/08\/we-need-a-whistleblower-prize-radley-balko.html","name":"\"We Need a Whistleblower Prize\": Radley Balko","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-08-09T18:35:01+00:00","dateModified":"2013-08-09T18:35:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/ca04686b93c92257f019070302a23415"},"description":"at HuffPo: ...High-level whistleblowers know when they come forward that they're sacrificing their national security clearance, likely their jobs, and","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2013\/08\/we-need-a-whistleblower-prize-radley-balko.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2013\/08\/we-need-a-whistleblower-prize-radley-balko.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2013\/08\/we-need-a-whistleblower-prize-radley-balko.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“We Need a Whistleblower Prize”: Radley Balko"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/","name":"Eve Tushnet","description":"Conservatism reborn in twisted sisterhood","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/ca04686b93c92257f019070302a23415","name":"Eve Tushnet","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be87ff28da150cb07788911c22e42ae2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be87ff28da150cb07788911c22e42ae2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Eve Tushnet"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/author\/evetushnet"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1071"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}