Cleveland's Plain Dealer: We're Holding Big Stories Because of Miller Jailing (RIIIIIIGHT...)

Editor & Publisher ^ | 7/8/05 | Mark Fitzgerald

[NathanBookman]

CHICAGO Plain Dealer Editor Doug Clifton says the Cleveland daily is not reporting two major investigative stories of "profound importance" because they are based on illegally leaked documents -- and the paper fears the consequences faced now by jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller.

Lawyers for the Newhouse Newspapers-owned PD have concluded that the newspaper would almost certainly be found culpable if the leaks were investigated by authorities.

"They've said, this is a super, super high-risk endeavor, and you would, you know, you'd lose," Clifton said in an interview Friday afternoon.

"The reporters say, 'Well, we're willing to go to jail, and I'm willing to go to jail if it gets laid on me,'" Clifton added, "but the newspaper isn't willing to go to jail. That's what the lawyers have told us. So this is a Time Inc. sort of situation."

Both Miller and Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper faced jail on contempt charges for refusing to identify confidential sources, but Time agreed to hand over Cooper's subpoenaed notes when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the reporters' appeal. Cooper later agreed to testify to a grand jury, saying his source had given "express personal consent" to be identified.

Clifton declined to characterize the two stories, saying only they were based on material that was illegally leaked.

Clifton's revelation that the PD was holding two investigative projects was actually first published in a column he wrote June 30 about the Miller and Cooper case. While the column garnered positive reaction, he said, almost nobody picked up on the disclosure tucked into the end of the piece.

"As I write this, two stories of profound importance languish in our hands," Clifton wrote. "The public would be well served to know them, but both are based on documents leaked to us by people who would face deep trouble for having leaked them. Publishing the stories would almost certainly lead to a leak investigation and the ultimate choice: talk or go to jail. Because talking isn't an option and jail is too high a price to pay, these two stories will go untold for now. How many more are out there?"

Clifton said he wrote the column to show that "there are consequences" to the actions taken against Miller and Cooper by a federal judge and special prosecutor.

"Some people might argue that you're being chicken-shit," Clifton said. "Well, I, I can respect that," he said, his voice trailing off.

Clifton said the Miller-Cooper case has not presented any problem in its ongoing reporting of the biggest current scandal in Ohio, sometimes called "Coingate."

"So much of that we are pursuing unambiguously with public records," he said. "We've had to rely very little on anonymous sources."

The scandal, first reported by The Blade in Toledo, revolves around a rare-coin dealer who was given authority to invest $50 million in state money in rare coins and other collectibles. Gold coins valued at $300,000 that were part of that investment were lost in the mail, the Blade reported. It later came out that millions of dollars in the fund cannot be accounted for.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Take this guy down from his cross.

[Pylot]

Bill of Rights
Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The decision of the court to send these journalists to jail for not revealing their sources will absolutely have a chilling effect on the press.

You may like this when the stories run against those you disagree with or when they run against a cause you don't support. But you will also have to like it when the tyranny of government runs over something you hold dear and the press is not there to shed light on the topic.

When mere words get people thrown in jail, especially words reported by the press, your country is going down the wrong path.

All the government has to do is to declare information sharing illegal and your last peaceful defense against government out of control is gone.

The Bill of Rights was put in place for many reasons, one of them was to give the written word the ability to shed light on government and to have impunity in doing so. The written word was one of the key reasons for the fomenting of the Revolution.

Be careful what you wish for, the tide will not always flow in a direction favorable to you.

[Nathan Zachary]

It's either the "reporter" lied, and fabricated the story, or the source is a Democrat, who was trying to spin the story that the leak was a Republican who outed Plame for revenge.
By revealing the source, the whole conspiracy of dirty Democrat politics and corrupt MSM would come crashing down.

[tet68]

Because talking isn't an option and jail is too high a price to pay

He can't talk the talk, OR walk the walk!

I frolic gayly in a pool of his bitter tears.

[Dr Snide]

As I write this, two stories of profound importance languish in our hands

In other words, more anti-American and anti-Bush stories that are fake and cannot possibly be proven.

Actually I was thinking the exact opposite, that the stories must be pro-Bush/pro-conservative/pro-Republican (not always the same thing) and this just provides a good excuse not to publish them. I doubt they would let consequences and a chance at journalistic martyrdom stop a good propaganda piece.

[Dr Snide]

I'm with you, the more I hear about the big "plame outing", I am convinced that her "secret" identity was not secret at all. Cooper and Miller probably heard the rumor at a cocktail party somewhere. But to make news out of it, they had to pretend there was a credible anonymous source, not just speculation over rumors at a cocktail party.

Now they can't identify the source because the source was invented out of thin air.

The other theroy is that Plame outted herself to Miller and Cooper in some sort of twisted, post-partum ego-trip. (see Vanity Fair layout)

I suspect you're right. One other though, Judith Miller wrote a book before with Laurie Mylroie, I wonder if she may be the source.

[Nathan Zachary]

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;...

The freedom of the press ISN'T being compromised, they can print anything they want as long as they can back up what they say, and it isn't against some other law, like revealing classified government information.

[Grendel9]

To read what this "b ig scandal" is all about,
go to:

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/isbud/1120044654323250.xml?isbud&coll=2


Then, put in focus the Democrats were more than
ticked that Ohio went Republican, has a Republican
governor TAFT, and TWO Republican Senators, DeWine
and Voinovich! Additionally, Gov. Taft recently
signed legislation approving a 2006-007 (!) budget
that grants big spending for schools, faith-based charitable assistance, and other President Bush
suggested categories.

Oh, and just for kicks...LOOK who's running against
Taft for the Ohio Governorship in 2006!

http://www.jimpetro.com/show_event.asp?event_id=51

But...why should we have doubts about the motives
of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Toronto paper?
They're defending a reporter's right to INFORM the
people via ANONYMOUS sources! Yep...no politicking
going on here!

Do they really think we're that dumb?!

[RJL]

Plain Dealer Editor Doug Clifton says the Cleveland daily is not reporting two major investigative stories of "profound importance"

LOL... Just a bit over the top perhaps?

Can anyone name the last two investigative stories of "profound importance" that the Cleveland Plain Dealer broke?

[builder]

Two major investigative stories with profound importance

Bush's fault and Rove is evil.

We can live without two more of these "big" stories.

[Pessimist]

I think the Plain Dealer has to be about the worst paper I've ever read - even worse than those little neighborhood rags.

I live in the Cleveland area and we're a "one horse" town, newspaper-wise. Nonetheless I quit getting the Plain Dealer many years ago and now simply ignore local news as much as possible.

[Pessimist]

"Gov. Taft recently
signed legislation approving a 2006-007 (!) budget
that grants big spending for schools, faith-based charitable assistance, and other President Bush
suggested categories. "

Gee! My $4.60 / pack cigarettes taste so much better now!

The Ohio RINOs have killed this state.

[joebuck]

"The reporters say, 'Well, we're willing to go to jail, and I'm willing to go to jail if it gets laid on me,'" Clifton added, "but the newspaper isn't willing to go to jail. That's what the lawyers have told us. So this is a Time Inc. sort of situation."

This is complete BS. A newspaper cannot "go to jail" for printing anything. The Pentagon Papers case settled that long ago.

[softwarecreator]

You may be onto something there, Dr.

What ever stopped them from publishing an Anti-American/Bush fake story before?  They would probably love to go to jail on a fake story like that because it makes them look like they are being persecuted by the gov't for printing "the truth".  A very good point and thanks for bringing it up.

[McGavin999]

Great. The FBI needs to make a call on the PD and find out about this leak and who is doing the leaking. They have already admitted they have in their hands confidential information that pertains to national security.

I hope on Monday morning the FBI makes a call in Cleveland.

[McGavin999]

Oh get off of it. You can't possibly be that ignorant. We are in a war and confidential information is being leaked by government employees.

There is a whistle blower law that protects people who devulge information that is LEGAL to leak, the rightly so, there is no such law to protect people who are on a political vendetta.

[CyberAnt]

"phoney stories"


I agree with your assessment. And .. I think this is a good result. We don't need phoney sources being used to try to legitimize phoney stories about the Bush admin.

[wildbill]

Reporting a crime is not illegal. So how could a leak be illegal unless it is meant to be an option chosen by the accuser to the normal reporting of a crime to the authorities.

But this can lead to false accusations without the testing process of a trial by jury that our legal system depends upon.

[Grendel9]

Get even with them....quit smoking!
YOu'd be surprised how proud of
yourself you'll be...and healthier, too!

I quit back in '83 when ciggies climbed
to $1.00/pack here in Illinois. I told
myself I'd quit if they raised the price
one more time; they did---and I did!