If you aren’t already disturbed enough by the warrantless wiretapping and data collection the National Security Agency is engaging in, then fasten your seatbelt – it’s getting worse.

ABC reporters Brian Ross and Richard Esposito, were informed by a source that it is, “time for you to get some new cell phones, quick.” This warning, given in person, revealed that the government was tracking phone numbers connected to the reporters. By cross-checking those numbers within the massive database they’ve compiled, it would be possible for the government to learn the identity of whistleblowers and other anonymous sources. This should open the eyes of those who have defended the NSA program because it was merely collecting data, not listening in.

News Corpse was founded on the premise that the media is dead. How much more evidence do we need? It is impossible to maintain a free press if reporters and their sources are unable to communicate because they fear the government is monitoring them. Just announcing that such a program exists will scare off most of those who have knowledge of misconduct or crimes committed by government officials. And as sources dry up, corruption will bloom.

While the media may be dead, this intrusive and repressive government is very much alive. What is it going to take for the American people to become sufficiently outraged to demand that their leaders honor the Constitution? Freedom of the press is supposedly guaranteed by the First Amendment, but this administration doesn’t care about that. Do the American people care?