Noted first on Web, then with authorities

By: Todd J. Shields 'Eagle' flies without a shield

Early in his first telephone conversation with a jailed murder suspect, Tim Potter, a crime and safety reporter for The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, heard the man proclaim his innocence.
Potter, 41, wrote an article after the April 14 interview. And the newspaper posted Potter's notes from the interview on its Internet site ? along with a photograph of notes Potter scrawled during a subsequent conversation, as well as a transcript and the audio tape from yet a third telephone discussion between Potter and the suspect.
The postings (http://www.wichitaeagle.com) were part of the Eagle's tactics as it complied, reluctantly, with a subpoena from prosecutors investigating the March 27 slashing and bludgeoning death of teacher Janice Vredenburg, 52, in her home.
The day after Potter's April 19 article, detectives came to the Eagle's newsroom seeking his notes. The Net postings let the Eagle claim it was not handing over unpublished material. Eagle executives were keenly aware of such pitfalls. But in part because Kansas has no shield law protecting journalists from subpoenas, they calculated they stood little chance to overturn District Judge Clark Owens' May 2 order to heed the subpoena. The judge fined the paper $500 daily until it complied.
"We didn't want to give up the notes," said Publisher Peter Pitz. Nonetheless on May 5 the Eagle gave authorities the notes, about 20 minutes after posting them on the Internet.

(Editor & Publisher Web Site: http://www.editorandpublisher.com) [Caption]
(copyright: Editor & Publisher May 15, 2000) [Caption]