Blog #2

In July 2003, Robert Novak published a column outing Valerie Plame as an undercover CIA operative. Following his column, several other journalists like Matthew Cooper reported the same information.

Because it is illegal to leak such information, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed to investigate the leak. Fitzgerald subpoenaed a number of journalists, including Matthew Cooper, concerning alleged conversations the reporters had with confidential sources. Cooper filed a motion to quash his subpoena, but a judge rejected the request. Cooper then refused to comply, and was ordered to jail and to pay a $1,000 fine per day until he obeyed. After a failed attempt at an appeal, Cooper agreed to testify. He told the New York Times that he had received “in somewhat dramatic fashion…an express, personal release from my source” that allowed him to comply with the subpoena.

If I were put in that same situation, I think I would react like this: When I first received the subpoena – which I knew would force me to disclose my confidential sources – I was in a state of shock. Having never been in such a predicament before, my heart pounded so loudly I could practically hear it in my ears and I was almost in fight or flight mode. My brain went into overdrive, and all I could think was, “How do I get out of it?” After telling myself to breathe and to calm down, I immediately called my lawyer. He advised me of my rights and told me that he would try to take care of the subpoena.

When we got off the phone, I pondered the situation a bit more. If I actually was forced to testify, would it really make that much of a difference for me? I didn’t have to think about that question long before I knew that without a doubt the answer was a resounding “yes.” Revealing my confidential sources would cause a chilling effect that would have an adverse effect on, what Philip Meyer called, the “reward system” between my sources and myself. And it could easily cause them to lose their trust in me. Few sources would want to give me information if they thought I would repeat it before a grand jury, after all. And then, as Newspaper Association of America President John Sturm put it, “Citizens [would] not receive the information to which they are entitled and the public interest isn’t served. The free flow of information is crucial to a well-informed citizenry and is often the only real-time check on government power.”

In the process of pondering the situation, I also thought back to a quote I’d heard recently, from Eduardo Bertoni of the Organization of American States. He argued that, “The right to confidentiality is essential to a journalist's work in performing the important public service of collecting and disseminating information.”

Therefore, I came to the conclusion that, short of gaining permission from my source, I needed to fight the subpoena, even if that meant possibly going to jail.