I don't think it's unconstitutional at all. I gave the example the other day of where you have a suspect's phone number but no location. So you call and say 'I'm from Your_local_newspaper and we're offering 2 weeks of free delivery to new subscribers, would you like to receive the paper for 2 weeks free sir?' If the person say yes and you confirm the address, then deliver copies of the paper there and stake it out to see if your suspect appears to pick it up, there's no problem there.
I do not at all agree that this undermines the power of the press; one individual was sent a spoofed link that appeared to go to a newspaper story but didn't. This fact was in the public domain (accessible on the EFF's website) for 3 years before anyone chose to make a fuss about it. I certainly wouldn't feel inhibited about speaking to the press as a result of knowing about this.
It's not one incident that makes it scary. Its the fact that the FBI thinks its okay to continuously deteriorate long-standing constitutional protections because they know it'll help them catch more criminals. You know what also catches more criminals? Collecting every single American's technology information for the purpose of back-searching it in the event of a situation. The impersonating of press (which I completely disagree with your characterization of the event) is apparently standard protocol. By giving them the ability to steal their email format and letterhead style, they essentially have the ability to impersonate the press. Granted, in the publicized case, they only used it to act as a link to a news report about the suspect they were attempting to place malware on, but I don't think it is too far-fetched to see this line continuously move closer towards impersonation and further away from the clearly legal line.
I do not at all agree that this undermines the power of the press; one individual was sent a spoofed link that appeared to go to a newspaper story but didn't. This fact was in the public domain (accessible on the EFF's website) for 3 years before anyone chose to make a fuss about it. I certainly wouldn't feel inhibited about speaking to the press as a result of knowing about this.