[Media-watch] FW: 10 reporters face jail, fines over sources

[Tim Gopsill]

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Conant [mailto:znewz1 at yahoo.com]
Sent: 17 August 2004 22:05
To: amnonkap at netvision.net.il; barbargi at jour.auth.gr;
c-caywood at northwestern.edu; caroline at white-site.com;
clamay at northwestern.edu; clarouche at fncom.org; dju at verdi.de;
douglas.hunt at jcu.edu.au; dsallen at uwm.edu; dvargas at chilesat.net;
ehlevine at uwm.edu; ghiglion at northwestern.edu; grabs at uclink.berkeley.edu;
harry.allen at wku.edu; hodder at sims.berkeley.edu; inday_nujp at hotmail.com;
info at johnkerry.com; j.servaes at uq.edu.au; jacoby at globe.com;
jakki at northwestern.edu; jdavis at starpower.net; jhornberger at fff.org;
jim.crawley at uniontrib.com; jl0d at lehigh.edu; jnpwu at mxk.mesh.ne.jp;
joann.albers at wku.edu; jyopp at email.unc.edu; l-huebner at northwestern.edu;
lzs at takas.lt; magnus.lindstrom at sjf.se; marijo at jour.auth.gr;
martins.morim at netcabo.pt; mary.cook at asu.edu; mbb at journalistforbundet.dk;
mckaym at cochise.edu; mikealle at uwm.edu; mokhine at sauj.co.za;
mp-block at northwestern.edu; munger at knews.com; osamura at nipporo.nhk.or.jp;
richroth at nwu.edu; segrefnsi1 at tin.it; stempel at ohiou.edu;
szrpress at moon.ro; talkback at the-sun.co.uk; thedonald at voyager.net; Tim
Gopsill; uhnbih at zagreb.hic.hr; umsarin at hotmail.com;
unijournal at mtu-net.ru
Subject: 10 reporters face jail, fines over sources


>
****************************************************************
> > 
> > NEWS RELEASE: The Reporters Committee for Freedom
> of
> > the Press
> > 
> > Resources available for reporters covering stories
> > about subpoenaed reporters
> > 
> >
>
****************************************************************
> > 
> > Aug. 17, 2004
> > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> > 
> > Contact: Lucy Dalglish, (703) 807-2100
> >   (To remove your address from this list,
> >   reply with "remove" in the subject line.)
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > At least ten reporters are facing jail or
> > substantial fines for refusing to identify
> > confidential sources in connection with three
> > separate federal court cases. The number of
> > journalists facing jail in the United States to
> > protect their sources is unprecedented.
> > 
> > On Wednesday, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson will
> > hold a hearing at 10 a.m. at the U.S. District
> > Courthouse in Washington, D.C., to determine
> whether
> > five reporters who have refused to identify
> > confidential sources they used in reporting the
> Wen
> > Ho Lee investigation will be held in contempt and
> > possibly jailed. Lee, a former Energy Department
> > scientist, has sued the government under the
> Privacy
> > Act, alleging that someone in the Energy or
> Justice
> > departments released confidential information from
> > his personnel file. He wants the reporters to
> > identify the source of the leaks. An additional
> > reporter may be cited with contempt at a later
> date.
> > 
> > In addition, at least four reporters have been
> > subpoenaed to testify in Washington, D.C., before
> a
> > federal grand jury investigating the leak of the
> > name of an undercover CIA operative, Valerie
> Plame.
> > One reporter, Time magazine's Matthew Cooper, has
> > already been sentenced to jail for contempt of
> > court, although that penalty has been stayed
> pending
> > appeal.
> > 
> > In the third case, Jim Taricani, a reporter for
> > WJAR-TV in Providence, R.I., has been cited with
> > contempt for refusing to obey a court order to
> > reveal the confidential source who gave him a
> > videotape of an undercover FBI investigation.
> > 
> > Reporters covering these disturbing stories will
> > find three Web documents published by the
> Reporters
> > Committee for Freedom of the Press to be
> > particularly useful.
> > 
> > "Agents of Discovery" is a survey documenting the
> > incidence of subpoenas served on the news media in
> > 2001. We collected data from print and broadcast
> > news operations throughout the United States,
> hoping
> > to demonstrate that journalists are targets of
> > discovery, and that the negative impact of
> subpoenas
> > on news gathering and dissemination was
> substantial.
> > The 2003 report (compiling data from subpoenas in
> > 2001) is our sixth. The report can be found at:
> > http://www.rcfp.org/agents/foreword.html
> > 
> > "Paying the Price" is a list of the journalists
> who
> > have been sanctioned with fines or jail time for
> > refusing to testify since 1975. It can be found
> at:
> > http://www.rcfp.org/jail.html
> > 
> > "The Reporters Privilege" is a complete compendium
> > of information on the reporter's privilege -- the
> > right not to be compelled to testify or disclose
> > sources and information in court -- in each state
> > and federal circuit. Each section is arranged
> > according to a standard outline, making it easy to
> > compare the law in various states.  It is found
> at:
> > http://www.rcfp.org/privilege.
> > 
> > The subpoenaed reporters include:
> > 
> > Wen Ho Lee case: Jeff Gerth and James Risen of the
> > New York Times, Robert Drogin of the Los Angeles
> > Times, Josef Herbert of The Associated Press,
> Pierre
> > Thomas of CNN (now of ABC), and Walter Pincus of
> the
> > Washington Post.
> > 
> > Valerie Plame criminal investigation: Matthew
> Cooper
> > of Time magazine, Judith Miller of the New York
> > Times, and Walter Pincus of the Washington Post.
> > (Yes, Pincus is subpoenaed in both cases.)
> > Additional subpoenas of reporters in connection
> with
> > this investigation are possible.
> > 
> > Operation Plunder Dome investigation: Jim Taricani
> > of WJAR-TV in Providence.
> > 
> > You can read more about these cases on the
> Reporters
> > Committee Web site at www.rcfp.org.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> =====
> Best regards,
> Paul Conant
>
-------------------------------------------------------------
> Phone 732-241-5250
> 
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam
> protection around 
> http://mail.yahoo.com 
> 



=====
Best regards,
Paul Conant

Please share your comments, corrections and tips with Znewz1.
You will help greatly if you pass these mailings along to colleagues.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Znewz1's theme is press freedom, though the approach can be indirect. Feel free to quote or reprint Znewz1 mailings in whole or in part.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign up for Znewz1 tips and comments or to be removed from the Znewz1 list, send a request to Znewz1 at yahoo.com.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The psychotronic weapons puzzle http://www.angelfire.com/az3/newzone/mku.html
Is there a non-computer proof of the 4-color theorem (math fun)
http://angelfire.com/az3/nfold/444.html
Have algorithm, will travel (more math fun)
http://www.angelfire.com/az3/nfold/travel.html

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com