The RTDNA Voice of the First Amendment Task Force is expressing extreme concern about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ refusal — again — to say his Department of Justice will not target journalists who protect the identities of their confidential sources.
Easy Doesn’t Mean Better With Story Sources
Reporters need to be wary of the time-saving temptation to rely on online sourcing services and others who promote themselves as experts. “I don’t have anything against the whole idea, but you have to know who you are talking to and what makes them an expert,” says Poynter’s Al Tompkins. Without doing so, journalists run the risk of using only sources “with a certain voice, and those voices are represented by publicity agents.
The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from the lawyers of movie theater killer James Holmes who demanded FoxNews.com reporter Jana Winter be compelled to testify about the source of one of her stories. The high court’s decision keeps in place a December ruling from the New York Court of Appeals ending the nearly two-year-long legal fight.
