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Former Top Time Inc. Editor Files FOIA Request With Justice Dept.

By AAN Staff
december 26, 2006  12:20 pm
Former Top Time Inc. Editor Files FOIA Request With Justice Dept.
Norman Pearlstine (pictured) last week sought federal documents relating to subpoenas of reporters in three recent cases of reporter-source privilege, reports the Wall Street Journal. The cases -- ranging from stories on Barry Bonds' alleged steroid use to terrorist financing -- illustrate growing tensions between news organizations, the White House, and Congress over the extent of the First Amendment rights of journalists to protect confidential sources. "I believe that the framers of the Constitution put a free and independent press in the First Amendment to protect the public's right to know, and the only way you do that is protect reporters' ability to keep certain sources confidential," says Indiana Congressman Mike Pence, a Republican critic of the White House on the issue. Pence will cosponsor legislation in the 110th Congress to protect journalists against government harassment over sources.
View full article at Wall Street Journal