What effect does mass surveillance have on journalism in the US? We're finding out. It's not good.

" Mass surveillance of the kind practiced by the NSA produces a chilling effect on journalism, because sources do not feel they can have a private conversation with a reporter." That's the takeaway from a public comment issued by a group of scholars, journalists, and researchers from Columbia Journalism School and the MIT Center for Civic Media, responding to the Review Group on Intelligence and Communication Technologies convened by President Obama. [Tow Center for Digital Journalism]