Fear of prosecution prompts US paper to pull stories

[emad]

Fear of prosecution prompts US paper to pull stories

Claire Cozens, press and publishing correspondent
Monday July 11, 2005

The editor of a leading US newspaper has admitted pulling two major investigative pieces on the advice of lawyers after a New York Times reporter was sent to jail for refusing to divulge the identity of a source.

Doug Clifton, the editor of Ohio's biggest paper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, said lawyers had advised him not to publish the articles because they were based on illegally leaked documents and could lead to penalties against the paper and the jailing of reporters.

Mr Clifton told the New York Times he would be willing to go to jail to protect a source but that but "the newspaper isn't willing to go to jail".

The editor said its lawyers feared the newspaper might be prosecuted if the articles were published.
http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1526117,00.html

[Oreo]

1. Another bell tolls in the death of democracy

Grow a pair and let the sheeple know what's really going on in the country

[iconoclastic cat]

2. And the last big story the Plain Dealer broke was...

...uh huh. Right.

[emad]

4. Lovely cat pic! Somewhat knowing look in them eyes...

Miaoooo..........

[Botany]

3. I betcha big $ that the articles go to the '04 election in Ohio & Noe ....

Come on P.D. get the story out.

[lvx35]

5. Release them on the INTERNET fool!

Screw the MSM. Let them try to prosecute the bloggers.

[Ready4Change]

6. The Muzzled Media.

We're in trouble.

[DURHAM D]

7. The media dug their own grave by blindly arguing that

protecting a whistleblower source and protecting a criminal who was trying to destroy a whistleblower were/are one and the same.

What a bunch of idiots.

All of middle America gets the difference between the two and the media just digs itself further into irrelevance.

I wonder if in the future the media will gather and give each other secret awards for articles not run.