Judith Miller is in jail and Matthew Cooper is back with his family. As a journalist by training and experience, this feels like a very bad thing to happen, complicated by the tragic way it's all gone down.
All of this illustrates why we need a viable shield law that is unambiguous. Let's face it, if reporters can't protect sources, then the lousy news coverage we get now will only get worse. Imagine if Bob Woodward had been compelled during Watergate to divulge Mark Felt's identity by the Nixon Administration. Nixon would have served out his second term and, like about a million other journalism students, I would have ended up majoring in english lit or something.
On the other hand, as an American who's concerned that we fight the War on Terror as effectively as possible, I have to say I'm not in favor of journalism that seeks to out the identities of people we count on to fight that war for us -- especially if the motivation of the leaker is retribution and not whisteblowing.
Even lawyers don't have unlimited attorney-client privilege. They can be compelled to testify if their client communicates with them with the purpose of committing a crime. That rift between perception and reality also helps explain why the New York Times and Time magazine came to different conclusions. There is the bedrock value of protecting sources, yes, but there is also the bedrock value of no man or woman being above the law. When the Supreme Court says turn over your notes (in their cases) or your tapes (in Nixon's), there's not a lot of wiggle room.
So, I basically have have to agree with Time's point-of-view here. They shouldn't have to turn over notes and testify, but once the Supreme Court says they have to, you either do, or you go to jail.
One other loose end here: why is it that Cooper and Miller get their asses hauled into court and threated with jail when Robert Novak broke the story of Valerie Plame's identity in his own column first and he's still hanging out on talk shows. What's up with that? What did he agree to do for whom?
A final consolation for Judith Miller. Look what a little jail time did for Martha Stewart's career. That reminds me... I gotta go... see if I can get her on the phone, talk to her about optioning her life rights.
