"Limits to Privilege" - Commentary by Tony Seton

Limits to Privilege

Being a journalist has some privileges when it comes to keeping secrets. At least it did. But a couple of cases in the news are underscoring the complexities that can arise when privilege is claimed and the government objects.

In Providence, Rhode Island, a television news reporter aired a videotape showing a political bribe. A prosecutor seeking to find out who had given the tape to the reporter got a judge to find the reporter in contempt. The person who gave the tape to the reporter acknowledged the fact but the reporter still refused to name his source. He was sentenced to six months house arrest; he would have gotten prison, but his health isn’t very good.

In this instance, the court was trying to determine who leaked information that was supposed to be secret in a financial shenanigans probe. It wasn’t part of the bribery scandal, it was legitimate reportage.

In the more ballyhooed Valerie Plame case, it was not about reporting but about a federal crime. An Administration higher-up gave the ever-venomous Robert Novak the identity of a CIA agent. Plame was an undercover operative and by breaking her cover, Novak made her useless in her position and put her contacts in jeopardy.

Novak was given the information to punish Joseph Wilson -- Plame’s husband -- for telling the truth about Niger not providing yellowcake to Saddam. The leak was retribution by the White House because their lies about WMDs to justify their invasion of Iraq were exposed. Novak was a willing participant in the punishment and should have been the one of the primary targets of the investigation. Instead, the plodding federal investigation is threatening two other reporters, at least, with prison for what they may or may not know about the Novak leak of Plame’s identity.

Just as regular citizens have only limited rights to free speech -- you can’t shout fire in a crowded theater -- so are there limits on freedom of the press. Reporters have a right to protect sources when reporting stories but only those that serve the public’s right to know. They do not have a right to participate in a partisan political act that undermines our national security. Since people like Novak claim privilege, it’s up to the courts to quash the witch-hunts of over-zealous prosecutors while assuring that the public is rightly informed.

And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.