By David Usborne in New York
21 August 2004
PROUT Editor's note: The article below reflects the horrendous erosion of fundamental freedoms which have taken place in the US since Bush came to power. It is clear proof that the US government has become a fascist police state. However, it is taking a long time for the average Americans to understand what has happened to their country.
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The right of journalists in the United States to withhold the identity of their sources has come under unprecedented assault, with reporters from several of the country's most prestigious news organisations now under threat of jail and punitive fines from judges and the Justice Department.
The sudden onslaught, prompted by published stories that have since triggered investigations and civil lawsuits, is spreading alarm through the profession. Presently, the ability of reporters in this country to protect their sources is based somewhat flimsily on an interpretation of the US Constitution.
Nathan Siegel, a lawyer with the Associated Press news agency, said this week: "There seems to be more willingness on the part of the judiciary to limit press freedoms." The AP is among four news outlets under pressure in a case concerning Wen Ho Lee, a nuclear scientist accused of stealing secrets from the Los Alamos nuclear facility who was later largely cleared.
Mr Lee is suing to find out who leaked erroneous information about him during the investigation under the Clinton administration. Last week, a US District Court judge ordered reporters from AP, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and ABC to pay $500 (£275) a day in fines for refusing to reveal their sources. The fines have been suspended pending appeals. In another case, a federal judge held Matthew Cooper of Time magazine in contempt for refusing to tell a grand jury who gave him the name of an undercover CIA agent. He remains free pending an appeal. The agent was Valerie Plame, wife of a former US ambassador, Joe Wilson. Her name surfaced after Mr Wilson accused Washington of wrongly asserting that Iraq sought to buy nuclear materials from Niger. Other journalists who have become ensnared in the Plame investigation include Bob Novak, the prominent Chicago columnist and CNN commentator, and Tim Russert, the political editor of NBC.
There are other cases. Last week, a federal court began collecting a fine of $1,000 a day from an NBC reporter in Rhode Island who has declined to reveal sources that helped him report a corruption case. On Thursday, three reporters at the San Francisco Chronicle received prosecutors' letters demanding to know sources in stories they recently reported.
Phil Bronstein, the Chronicle's editor, told staff: "As you know, the Justice Department has been aggressively pursuing journalists on the confidential source issue." He said the newspaper would refuse to disclose the information.
Lucy Dalglish, the executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said: "I think we're setting up a real showdown here." She predicted that the journalists would not be "intimidated into revealing their confidential sources". She added. "The government is trying to keep more and more secrets, and journalists are working harder to uncover those secrets. Given the terrorism climate, all this has come to a head."
Press freedom organisations are pressing for the Supreme Court or the US Congress to clarify the law. Experts warn that any new laws could result in tighter restrictions.
