Online Petition Backs Reporters in Fight Over Sources

By: Joe Strupp An online petition launched two weeks ago to gather support for reporters facing federal pressure to reveal confidential sources has garnered nearly 3,000 electronic signatures from working journalists, according to organizers. They hope to collect 10,000 names and use them in a major newspaper ad campaign.

Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press placed the petition sign-up on its Web site (www.rcfp.org) on Aug. 25, said executive director Lucy Dalglish. Since then, 2,830 working and retired journalists, as well as journalism instructors, have signed up, she said.

Among the thousands who have signed on so far are Peter Bhatia, executive editor of The Oregonian in Portland; Doug Clifton, editor of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland; Jim Willse, editor of The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., Robert Rivard, editor of the San Antonio Express-News, and Mark Silverman, editor and publisher of The Detroit News.

?Part of the rationale behind it is to pull together as many journalists to sign it as you can,? said Clifton. ?It is an expression of broad support for protecting the privilege of reporting.?

Dalglish hopes to use the petition in full-page newspaper ads around the country as a way to pressure federal officials to back off their assault on anonymous sourcing. She said several newspapers had indicated a willingness to provide free space, while the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has said it may provide as much as $100,000 in matching funds.

?What we are shooting for is USA Today, The New York Times, and The Washington Post,? Dalglish said about the potential ad space. ?We want the general population to know that we are standing up for them.?

The news organization with the most ?signatures? so far is The Star-Tribune in Minneapolis with 202, followed by the Austin American-Statesman with 63, The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune with 47, and the San Francisco Chronicle with 35. At least 119 signatories described themselves as freelancers.

The Reporters Committee chose to place the petition on its Web site in response to the recent flurry of subpoenas and other federal pressure on reporters to reveal sources in several cases, including the Valerie Plame leak investigation, the Wen Ho Lee case, and the investigation into alleged steroid distribution by BALCO, a San Francisco area company.

Dalglish said the idea came about during a conference call between herself and representatives from the Newspaper Guild, American Society of Newspaper Editors, Society of Professional Journalists, and several broadcast unions.

?We were talking about how crazy it had gotten and what could we do,? Dalglish recalled. ?We wanted to be able to show people that there was nationwide support for these reporters and they were not just some reporters who are annoyed because they are being asked to testify.?

At the top of the petition, organizers placed a statement that says, in part, ?We support the reporters in current federal court proceedings who are refusing to testify about their confidential sources and now face stiff fines, even jail. We commend these reporters for standing firm and standing up for First Amendment principles.?

The petition also makes clear that it is for working journalists, or retired journalists or journalism instructors, only. Visitors to the Web site can see who has already signed on, with names listed in alphabetical order next to their places of employment.

?It raises the awareness and we hope puts some pressure on the legal system to think before they take the easy route of letting journalists do their work for them,? said Scott Bosley, executive director of ASNE. ?It shows a broad base of support.?

Once the ad blitz is underway, Dalglish said petition organizers hope to present the names to either the U.S. Justice Department or congressional leaders. ?It may be time for them to do something about this,? she said of Congress.