Blanton advocates the public’s “right to know”

It’s no secret that Tom Blanton is against the government hiding information from the public.

Blanton, the current director of the National Security Archive at The George Washington University, spoke in the Student Union auditorium on Thursday about the importance of government transparency.

His speech, titled “The Secrecy Hangover,” was part of the Lucile Kelling Henderson Lecture Series, established in 1990.

Blanton described the recent increase in classified government conversations as a “secrecy mania” that threatens the safety of citizens instead of protecting them from danger.

“We are not safer in the dark,” Blanton said. “Openness is the way we correct our mistakes.”

He gave the example of how openness helped end the threat of nuclear warfare between the United States and Russia, when former President Ronald Reagan revealed to his Russian counterpart, Mikhail Gorbachev, that he wanted to abolish atomic bombs.

“It keeps our officials honest and also our allies more honest,” Blanton said of government transparency.

Blanton formally answered a few audience questions following his speech and then stepped outside to talk to the students, faculty and Chapel Hill residents who attended.

Following the talk, the audience viewed a film about government secrecy that featured Blanton.

After the lecture, junior political science major Dianne Heath said that she supports Blanton’s advocacy for government transparency and understands the related significance of public involvement in politics.

“As less and less people get involved, it allows the government to stay more closed,” Heath said.

During the reception, Blanton talked about how the Watergate scandal and his firsthand experience of the civil rights movement and the military draft all inspired him to fight for government openness.

He said he has seen the number of e-mails that the U.S. government has tried to keep hidden increase from 200,000 during the Reagan administration to 220 million during that of George W. Bush.

As attempts at concealing information multiply, Blanton maintains that it’s the government’s responsibility to keep the public informed.

“Most of it we have the right to know,” he said.


Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.