AAN Association of Alternative Newsmedia

Village Voice Writer's Tapes Put Confidentiality in the Spotlight

By AAN Staff

november 2, 2007 08:44 am

As we mentioned yesterday, Tom Robbins' decision to make public the tapes that led to the dismissal of a FBI mob trial was not an easy one for him to make. In today's New York Times, he explains further his decision to break his pledge of confidentiality to star witness Linda Schiro. He tells the Times he came forward, rather than his colleague Jerry Capeci, because Capeci's entire career hinges on writing about the mob. "I don't face the same kind of jeopardy," Robbins says. "Jerry spends his life reporting on people who commit murders. The last thing in the world he wants to do is to be brought to the stand and asked about his sources." Capeci says the pair felt comfortable breaking their pledge of confidentiality since Schiro had broken it herself by testifying. "It wasn't a question of hurting her by violating the confidentiality," he says. "She had already discussed the material that she told us in confidence."

View full article at The New York Times