War on Whistleblowers: Free Press and the National Security State is a 66-minute documentary by Robert Greenwald and Brave New Foundation, released in 2013.
War on Whistleblowers highlights recent cases where American government employees and contractors took to the media to expose fraud and abuse. In all cases the whistleblowing was to the detriement of their professional and personal lives. With President Obama's commitment to transparency and the passage of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, there was hope that whistleblowers would finally have more protection and encouragement to speak up. But according to the film, times have never been worse for national security whistleblowers. Obama's administration has attacked more whistleblowers under the Espionage Act than all previous administrations combined. According to Whistleblowers, journalists are also harassed for covering these stories. War on Whistleblowers premiered in April 2013 in theaters and on DVD.
David Carr, Journalist, The New York TimesLucy Dalglish, Dean of the Philip Merrit College of Journalism, University of MarylandGlenn Greenwald, Journalist, The GuardianSeymour Hersh, JournalistMichael Isikoff, National Investigative Correspondent for NBC NewsBill Keller, Op-Ed Columnist, The New York TimesEric Lipton, Investigative Reporter, The New York TimesJane Mayer, Staff Writer, The New YorkerDana Priest, Investigative Reporter, The Washington PostTom Vanden Brook, Journalist, USA TodaySharon Weinberger, National Security ReporterMichael DeKort, Senior Project Manager at Lockheed MartinThomas Drake, Former Senior Executive of the National Security AgencyFranz Gayl, Deputy Branch Head for the Space and Information Operations Integration BranchThomas Tamm, Criminal Defense Litigation AttorneySteven Aftergood, Director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation on American ScientistsDanielle Brian, Executive Director at the Project on Government OversightTom Devine, Legal Director of the Government Accountability ProjectBen Freeman, National Security Investigator at the Project on Government OversightWilliam Hartung, Director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International PolicyJ. William Leonard, Former Director of the Information Security Oversight OfficeJesselyn Radack, Director of National Security and Human Rights at the Government Accountability ProjectPete Sepp, Executive Vice President for the National Taxpayers UnionPierre Sprey, Defense Analyst and Weapons DesignerWinslow T. Wheeler, Director of the Straus Military Reform Project of the Project on Government OversightWar on Whistleblowers was reviewed in both the general and the progressive media.
The general media generally gave positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a "fresh" rating. The Village Voice called it "Fast-moving and sleekly crafted…accessible without sacrificing nuance or intelligence.” Booklist commented on the importance of the message while Bloomberg noted the subject's timeliness.
