Thursday, June 30, 2005

Confidential no more

Time’s Editor-in-Chief, Norman Pearlstein, in an editorial in a recent issue of Fortune, wrote, “We believe that we must protect our sources when we grant them confidentiality, an obligation we do not take lightly. We also believe we must resist government coercion.”

It looks like Time’s editor-in-chief will be overridden by Time’s lawyers and businesspeople as there are reports that their attorneys will be turning over to the government documents which reveal the confidential sources used by Matthew Cooper in the Valerie Plame case. This will set a precedent that most journalists and civil libertarians think dangerous.

Fortunately, the NY Times has not yet considered caving into the government’s demands. But, still, Time is a major force in American journalism and to have them cave is not a good sign.

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