By Jeffrey Blyth
In newsrooms across the US, scores of journalists stood in silence
for two minutes as a show of support for the two colleagues facing jail
for refusing to disclose confidential sources.
The silent protest – suggested by the president of the American
Newspaper Guild – was planned to coincide with the appearance in a
Washington court of New York Times reporter Judith Miller and Time
magazine writer Matt Cooper.
For more than a year both had consistently refused to testify in an investigation into the naming of a covert CIA operative.
A
week ago, however, Time magazine editor Norman Pearlstine announced
that after reviewing the case, he had decided that the magazine had to
obey the law – and was prepared to produce their reporter’s notes and
documents.
His decision outraged many journalists in the US and the magazine was accused of caving in.
One critic even suggested that Time should be renamed Tame.
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