Jailed Reporter Miller Seeks Shield Law

The Associated Press ^ | October 18, 2005 | Ken Ritter

[DallasMike]

Jailed Reporter Miller Seeks Shield Law

By KEN RITTER
Associated Press Writer

October 18, 2005, 1:23 PM EDT

LAS VEGAS -- New York Times reporter Judith Miller defended her decision to go to jail to protect a source and told a journalism conference Tuesday that reporters need a federal shield law so that others won't face the same sanctions.

Miller was jailed 85 days for refusing to reveal the source who disclosed the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame.

"Ultimately we protect sources so people will come forth -- so people will know," she told the national conference of the Society of Professional Journalists. ...http://www.spj.org/

Copyright © 2005, The Associated Press

[DallasMike]

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[funkywbr]

This piss poor reporter needs a panty shield.

[dirtboy]

New York Times reporter Judith Miller defended her decision to go to jail to protect a source

Nothing like starting out an article with a false premise. The MSM will be busy little beavers distracting from the real untold story about Miller and the names she was truly protecting.

[thoughtomator]

It couldn't apply ex post facto anyway. Lock up the criminal Miller and all her accomplices.

[Steve_Seattle]

Federal Shield Law = Reporters-Can-Lie-About-Sources-Without-Fear-Of-Discovery Law

Just what we need, a law that gives reporters a blank check to lie.

[Enchante]

Exactly, this case has shown once again the extreme unreliability of MSM reporters in handling confidential sources and the stunning biased mendacity of most in the MSM. The idea of giving them a lifetime "blank check" to do anything they want with unnamed sources is just so foolish.

[newzjunkey]

Why does Miller need a shield law when she can't even remember who her source was? (sarcasm)

[ncountylee]

Federal Shield Law = Reporters-Can-Lie-About-Sources-Without-Fear-Of-Discovery Law

Exactly, Rather would still be around protected by the shield.

[KarlInOhio]

The "source" she went to jail to protect released her from confidentiality before she went to jail. That means either she was immensely stupid not to notice that fact or she was protecting someone or something else. I would like to know what were the terms of the agreement she made with the prosecutor before she testified.

[DallasMike]

The "source" she went to jail to protect released her from confidentiality before she went to jail. That means either she was immensely stupid not to notice that fact or she was protecting someone or something else. I would like to know what were the terms of the agreement she made with the prosecutor before she testified.

Exactly. Every newspaper in the country had stories about Libby releasing her from any confidentiality agreements. The story about her not being sure if she really was really is bogus. So what's the real deal?

[KarlInOhio]

Exactly, Rather would still be around protected by the shield.

Rather wasn't run out of town by a prosecutor or a plaintiff's attorney. He was chased out by outraged viewers. A shield law wouldn't prevent that. He still hasn't come clean on the source of the documents and whether his daughter Robin was involved in it. She is one of the few I could see him sacrificing his (and others) career to hide from the spotlight.

[IMRight]

The "source" she went to jail to protect released her from confidentiality before she went to jail.

She had another source (perhaps one of the Wilsons, perhaps Hannah, perhaps another reporter or someone in the CIA she had contacts with from her WMD reporting) and would not come out until Fitzgerald promised he wouldn't ask her about anyone but Libby.

[oolatec]

Ok, I have to ask this... she went to jail to protect her source, but said it was someone other than Libby, but can't recall who... uhhhhhhhhhhhh, why does that not make sense...

[ncountylee]

I can see reporters distorting the shield law to protect themselves from questions from all quarters.

[TravisBickle]

Actually, there ought to be a law that they can't use anonymous sources. That would clear a whole lot of messes up right there.

[ken5050]

Another perspective on this question..assume, hypothetically, that EVERYONE agreed on the need for a shield law. Now you have an even bigger problem...defining who, or what, is a "journalist?" Every blogger, every one doing Podcsting..whatever..

[cgk]

[Steve_Seattle]

I have a sister and brother in law in the newspaper business, and they are very touchy about their profession, so I have to watch what I say at family gatherings, which are mostly at their house. I would say they most reporters don't deliberately make up stuff, but they are extraordinarily blind to their own biases and the extent that those biases determine how a story is covered, or whether it's covered at all. There is a very deep seated professional arrogance in journalism these days, possibly made worse by insecurities aroused by the Internet, the blogosphere, Fox News, and talk radio. People in the MSM seem blissfully unaware of how their own rhetoric harms people and destroys people, and yet are shocked and offended when people apply similar rhetoric and judgements to them. They can dish it out, but they can't take it. Any criticisms of them are dismissed as "media bashing."

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

A Federal Shield Law gives MSM (and we know who they are) a curtain to hide behind in an effort to advance any agenda.

No accountability.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Forgot to add....Miller is a brainless twit.