"Whistleblowers"

"Whistleblowers"

Joseph Wilson upset the Bush administration. The administration responded by blowing the cover of Wilson's wife, who had worked undercover for the CIA. They did so by revealing her undercover status to reporters. In the ensuing investigation (blowing her cover was illegal) the reporters wouldn't reveal who blew her cover, and were sentenced to jail time. Today the Supreme Court refused to hear their appeal, which means that they will go to jail. Here's what news organizations had to say about it:

CNN.com - Supreme Court refuses to hear reporters' appeals - Jun 27, 2005: 'Important information will be lost to the public if journalists cannot reliably promise anonymity to sources,' news organizations including The Associated Press told justices in court papers.

I, for one, think it will be a great loss if the good people of the government can no longer use the news media as tools of revenge. Just think where we would be if we never knew that Valerie Wilson was at one time involved in non-proliferation efforts for the CIA. I can't even imagine such a world.

I can't imagine why reporters and new organizations are pursuing this. Yes, it's in their interest to cultivate anonymous sources, but it's not in their interest to be used by these same sources, at least not in such a blatant manner.