Broken Words

There is no federally recognized "reporter's privilege." When a journalist refuses to reveal a source's identity to a federal grand jury, that journalist stands on principle, not the law.

Time Inc. editor in chief Norman Pearlstine, by revealing the identity or identities of confidential sources in Time's reporting on Valerie Plame, abandoned principle and broke what little of my trust in confidentially sourced reporting remained.

"The journalist and the lawyer were fighting in my head," Pearlstine said. "But if presidents are not above the law, how is it that journalists are?"

They're not. Concealing sources is not a right or a privilege, it's a responsibility. A journalist who accepts this responsibility should accept the consequences.

A confidential source not worth fighting for 'til the source says the fight is over is a source whose side of the story isn't worth writing or reading.