White House Learns The Risks Of The New Media

From Politico:

A photograph posted by the White House to the photo sharing website Flickr includes an image of a document with the letters CIA printed beneath what appears to be the word "secret."

The photograph by White House photographer Pete Souza is one of 301 pictures currently in the White House's Flickr pool, and depicts President Obama and six of his top advisors in the Red Room before Wednesday's prime time news conference. In the picture, foreign policy advisor Denis McDonough holds a binder, a legal pad, and some loose paper, with the top sheet bearing the acronym for the Central Intelligence Agency, which is clearly visible in an enlarged, 3500-pixel wide image available on Flickr.

The other words on the visible portion of the document aren't easily legible, and a White House spokesman, Bill Burton, dismissed it as innocuous in an email.

"Uh oh. Please don't tell me that the enemy is now going to know what our fax coversheets look like. (That is indeed what it is.)," he emailed.

I think maybe now they'll start to understand just how hard immediate transparency can be. Of course, carrying exposed documents of any kind around areas with cameras is risky. Oh, and there are even instances where a fax cover sheet may carry classified info, so the explanation offered by the White House doesn't necessarily address the concern.