No such system exists in the United States, but some years ago, a group of about 20 journalists and officials met quarterly for dinner to discuss how a free press should cover secret agencies.
I have covered the secret war that Israeli and American intelligence have waged against Iran's nuclear program and Iran's assistance to jihadi movements in the Middle East since the mid-'90s.
Monday's Daily Telegraph, which covered the secret mortgage payouts of MPs and details about the speaker Michael Martin's staff, sold about 57,000 copies above its regular base, according to initial industry figures.
Secretary Shinseki said he was "mad as hell," and those who testified seemed concerned if not outraged at reports that some VA's had "cooked the books" regarding veteran wait times and covered up secret waiting lists containing real (bad) data, while publicly substituting made-up lists that falsely reflected exemplary performance.
David Kirby's 2005 book Evidence of Harm, told from the perspective of SafeMinds and other parents of autistic children, alleged that the CDC and the Institute of Medicine had covered up secret documents and meetings where evidence of harm from thimerosal was discussed.
They were both born in the Soviet Union, had undergone training in the KGB and been dispatched abroad as part of a Soviet programme of deep-cover secret agents, known in Russia as the "illegals".
Over the weekend, Boeheim made sure to bellow, "I am not Joe Paterno," the implication being that he never covered up secrets.
These and most of the other topics covered in Secrets of the Body Clock with Terry Wogan (BBC1) were already familiar from half-remembered magazine articles and few of the revelations were earth-shattering, yet, somehow, seen through Wogan's twinkly eyes, they appeared newly interesting.
Williams says threats from family members of people featured on Spice Heads have forced him into hiding, at a CCTV-covered secret address in Blackpool.
But are cover arrangements secret?
