Should Reporters be Forced to Reveal 'Confidential' Sources?

To the Point

KCRW

News

4.4 • 583 Ratings

🗓️ 4 July 2006

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In recent weeks, there's been much debate about news stories that revealed secret strategies in the war on terror. The issue of confidential sources is just as timely as it was in January, when we first broadcast this program. Confidential sources provide reporters with information only if they're promised they won't be identified. But in 1972, the US Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment does not protect the reporter's promise of anonymity in federal cases. For the past 30 years, prosecutors have been reluctant to pursue reporters unless there's no other way to obtain information they need. Now, that appears to be changing. Why do sources demand anonymity? What will be lost if they have to come out of the closet? Who should decide what the public has a right to know? (This segment was originally broadcast January 11 on To the Point.) Making News: Charters of Freedom Survive Flood at National ArchivesThis 230th Fourth of July will be celebrated today on the steps of the National Archives building, but the building itself is closed because of flooding. What about the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence? Are they safe? We hear more about recovery efforts at the National Archives from Paul Schwartzman, who's following the story for the Washington Post.Reporter's Notebook: America's Promise RestoredHarlan Ullman, senior advisor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, is no fan of how the war in Iraq--or the war on terror--are being conducted. In broader terms, he says America's government is "dysfunctional," a crisis that's "easy to define" but "difficult to fix." Now, the man who made "shock and awe" a household word offers some proposals for engaging an apathetic citizenry to demand accountability in America's Promise Restored.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.
0:07.9	Should reporters be forced to reveal their confidential sources?
0:15.0	Hello again, I'm Arminolny, and this is an archived edition of To The Poet from Public Radio International, a daily look at the issues Americans care about most. On this 4th of July, press freedom has become a major issue.
0:25.5	Prosecutors and judges are demanding that reporters break their promises to anonymous sources.
0:29.9	Some in Congress want a new law to protect what's called the free flow of information in federal courts.
0:35.6	Others say that'll encourage news stories that libel innocent citizens or create risks to national security.
0:41.7	On to the point, why do sources demand anonymity?
0:45.0	What will be lost if they have to come out of the closet?
0:47.4	Who should decide what the public has a right to know?
0:50.2	On reporter's notebook later on, the man who made shock and awe a household word is now pushing peace, partnership, and prosperity.
0:57.9	First, the news.
1:01.0	Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,
1:08.5	whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John D. and
1:11.9	Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Hello again, Warren Alney, back with an archived edition of
1:16.4	To the Point. Former New York Times reporter Judith Miller did jail time before she was willing to talk
1:21.1	about confidential sources. On To the Point, should reporters and their sources be shielded in
1:26.0	federal court or subject to the same legal
1:28.6	requirements as everyone else? On reporter's notebook is American government failing? How can
1:33.9	apathetic voters be engaged enough to demand accountability and avoid impending crises?
1:40.0	First, this news update, this 230th, 4th of July, will be celebrated on the steps of the National Archives building.
1:47.1	But the building itself is closed because of flooding.
1:50.0	What about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence?
	...

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