Posted on 07/05/2005 7:33:02 PM PDT by blogblogginaway
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - It may be one of the most important First Amendment cases in a generation.
And it is one the media is on the verge of losing.
Two reporters, one each from The New York Times and Time magazine, are to appear in federal court Wednesday for a hearing on whether they should go to jail for refusing to talk to prosecutors investigating the potentially illegal disclosure of the identify of a CIA operative.
Federal District Judge Thomas F. Hogan in Washington has said he would sentence the reporters, Judith Miller of the Times and Matthew Cooper of Time, to jail Wednesday if they refuse to answer questions before a grand jury.
A generation ago, the Times and The Washington Post successfully defied the government in publishing a classified history of the Vietnam War known as the Pentagon Papers, with considerable public support.
But this case comes amid growing public skepticism about the motives of the press and a string of high-profile media setbacks, notably CBS News' retraction of a story during the 2004 presidential campaign purporting to show that President Bush shirked his national guard duty.
"I don't think journalists as a group are particularly popular today, and the general public is not terribly inclined to be sympathetic to journalists in any situation in which they find themselves in trouble," said Richard Gordon, an associate professor and chairman of the new media program at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. "Now a picture of a journalist being handcuffed and taken off to jail - that might change that ... but it hasn't happened yet."
(Excerpt) Read more at sunherald.com ...
I'm really looking forward to reading about this tomorrow. Anyone know what time the hearing is scheduled?
The media is loosing it because they don't have a case. No matter how powerful they think they are, no one is above the law.
ODonnell was just on CNN - still talking about Rove.
So, CNN is now putting the madman on the air; it must have been with that ever-exiting newsman(gag), Aron Brown. Why doesn't this surprise me?
When it come right down to it, who REALLY revealed the CIA worker's identity? The way I see it, it was Miller and Cooper. The Times and Time.
Send them to Leavenworth, not the golf course prison for wusses.
Gitmo, we'll get some answers one way or the other.
yes, Brown's last question to him was "do you think Rove is going down for this?"
This should only be happening to the reporters if a CIA agent was really put into jeopardy. When that happens, I want all involved to be hung.
the case is now more about this new right the reporters are asserting, and perjury, then it is about Plame. the details of her role with the CIA pretty much puts the idea of her being "a secret agent that was outed" to bed.
I guess I haven't followed this one enough. What is the new right they are asserting?
And it is one the media is on the verge of losing.
They're not "on the verge". They lost. Unanimously, up the entire judicial chain based on an over 30-year old Supreme Court ruling.
The hearing is giving them the chance to comply or they'll receive the consequences.
This nonsese about precedent setting is so much nonsense and more evidence that the media is either stupid or deliberately deceitful.
The rumors were nothing but a revival of the original charge when Wilson started this nonsense about his wife being "outed".
We've known for well over a year that Rove has cooperated with the grand jury and it was obvious from the start he was not the original source.
That is so much foolishness.
Thanks for the report, oceanview. Look, summer, CNN had Lassie on.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.