From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Confidential sources, political payback, and the public's right to know.

Hello again, I'm Orman Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International,

a daily look at the issues, Americans care about most.

Today's Los Angeles Times says the Lewis Scooter Libby trial is really about the ugly mutual exploitation between government and the media.

Testimony's revealed how the Bush administration manipulated reporters and how the reporters went along.

It's a sordid story that's more about political payback than the public's right to know,

but it could have consequences.

On to the point, reporters have been required to reveal their sources in court,

despite promises of anonymity.

Will that discourage potential whistleblowers with important stories to tell?

Are reporters so eager for scoops, they become complicit in government spin?

How does the public know what to believe? First, the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio

International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John

D. and Catherine T. McArthur

Foundation. Hello again. We're on Analy back with To the Point. Influential reporters are

revealing protected sources in court at the Lewis Scooter Libby trial. On To the Point is the free

press at risk in the courtroom. We'll hear about anonymous sources, political payback, and the

public's right to know.

First, this news update, President Bush, has nominated General George Casey to be the Army's chief of staff after two and a half years as commander of troops in Iraq.

At Casey's Senate confirmation hearing today, Arizona Republican John McCain issued a kind of challenge.

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