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July 12, 2005
Doubting St. Judith of New York
The L. A. Times' Rosa Brooks makes a compelling case against the recent hagiography of Judy Miller, jailed for not revealing a source (or even spelling it: K-A-R-L) in the the White House covert-agent-outing scandal.
Reasonable people can disagree on the appropriate scope of journalistic privilege. But we should keep the legal question — when should journalists be compelled by law to divulge their sources? — distinct from the ethical question: Is a journalist ever ethically permitted to break a promise and divulge a source? However we answer the first question, the answer to the second must be a resounding yes.
Should Miller have refused to offer anonymity to all those "high-level" sources who sold us a bill of goods on Iraq? Yes.
If it becomes apparent to a journalist that a source lied to him on a matter crucial to the public good, should he be ethically permitted to expose the lie and the liar, despite any prior promises of confidentiality? Yes.
If a source with a clear political motivation passes along classified information that has no value for public debate but would endanger the career, and possibly the life, of a covert agent, is a journalist ethically permitted to "out" the no-good sneak? You bet. And if the knowledge that they can't always hide behind anonymity has a "chilling effect" on political hacks who are eager to manipulate the media in furtherance of their vested interests, that's OK with me.
It's fine by me as well. If seems to me that justice requires the handling of good information with good faith, and bad information with bad faith. In other words, you lie to me, and the deal's off. But there's more than one kind of bad information; partisan attacks disguised as inside scoops are borderline calls (not print-worthy, but not deal-breakers) and willingness to sacrifice people's safety for personal gain becomes a story in itself.
But Miller has a problem. If these are the rules of the game, she needs to lay those down at the outset. By guaranteeing anonymity for the White House leaks in the first place, she's gone to bed with turncoats and possible criminals. And when you hang out with bad guys, you can't be too surprised when the cops pick you up along with them.
| By mesh | 02:08 PM
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