It turns out that the National Security Agency has been holding "seminars" in recent years to discourage reporters from covering sensitive stories. The New York Sun got their hands on the course outlines and, yeah, the seminars were exactly what you would think:

The half-day classes featured high-ranking NSA officials highlighting objectionable passages in published stories and offering "an innocuous rewrite" that officials said maintained the "overall thrust" of the articles but omitted details that could disclose the agency's techniques, according to course outlines obtained by The New York Sun.

The seminars took place at NSA headquarters in Ft. Meade, MD (above) and they know journalists well. Give the journos free food, access to high ranking officials and an ego massage... and who knows? Maybe you'll have some success:

The NSA's seminars, delivered over tea and pastries, and accompanied by a clip from "Top Gun," seemed designed to elicit a chummy atmosphere and to highlight commonalities between reporters and the agency's electronic sleuths. "Reporters go to great lengths to protect their sources, as do we," one talking point for the classes said. "We need your help."

During the meetings at NSA HQ, officials showed reporters examples of articles they felt were "sensitive" and should not have been published in their original form. These include: