FAIR, ASNE Differ Sharply on Confidential Sourcing Cases

By: Joe Strupp Two leading journalism organizations, the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) and Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), are speaking out on recent government efforts to have reporters reveal sources in two high-profile cases, but with completely opposite opinions.

FAIR, a national media watchdog group, is urging the reporters and news outlets who have been asked to reveal confidential sources in the Wen Ho Lee and Valerie Plame cases to do so, while ASNE leaders are condemning the demands of investigators, contending that such actions will hurt press freedom.

In a statement released Thursday, FAIR encouraged the reporters involved in those two cases to "cooperate with investigators."

"Protecting the identities of confidential sources is a journalistic right that should be recognized by the courts, but only when it protects genuine whistle-blowers, not when it shields government wrongdoing," the statement read in part. "Reporters in both cases are being told by investigators to reveal the specific members of the government who transmitted information. FAIR believes that prosecutors' attempts to discover these sources [are] legitimate, and the ethical journalistic choice is to assist their efforts."

But an ASNE statement also out on Thursday took the opposing stance.

"Ultimately, the public loses," ASNE leaders said in the release. "Every day, confidential sources provide journalists with information about alleged wrongdoing, especially when it pertains to the functioning of government. After that information is verified for its accuracy, the resulting news stories serve to enlighten the public about official corruption and misconduct. By seeking to remove that First Amendment shield, judges are stifling the free flow of information and making it difficult for journalists to provide the public with important information."

The two cases involve a civil lawsuit brought by former Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee against the federal government and the federal grand jury probe into who leaked the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame.

The judge overseeing the Lee case, in which the scientist is suing the federal government alleging violation of privacy, held five reporters in contempt on Wednesday after they refused to turn over sourcing information, slapping each with a $500-per-day fine that is being appealed.

In the Plame case, a Time magazine reporter has been held in contempt and ordered to jail for refusing to testify. That also is on appeal. In addition, four subpoenas, three to The New York Times and one to The Washington Post, have been issued in that case, seeking testimony and reporting materials.