Opinion: Journalists' rights should be preserved
Hanni Wagner
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Rhode Island television reporter Jim Taricani was sentenced Friday to six months of home confinement for his refusal to reveal a confidential source by U. S. District Judge Ernest Torres.
The sentencing came after a three-year investigation, during which Taricani was found in civil contempt and was fined $1000 a day, in hopes that we would reveal his source. Torres suspended the fine last month, saying that it had not achieved its goal.
The videotape in question showed an aide to former Providence mayor Vincent Cianci accepting a $1000 bribe, and was part of an investigation that led to Cianci spending time in federal prison.
During the sentencing, Torres said that Taricani has no First Amendment right to conceal a source who broke the law to give him information. "The assaults we have here are assaults on the rule of law, assaults on the system of criminal justice," he said.
Far from being an assault on the justice system, Taricani's conviction and sentencing represents an alarming trend in journalism. Taricani is one of several journalists who are engaged in legal battles to protect confidential sources.
Journalists' right to protect confidential sources is vital to the integrity of the profession. "The U.S. courts must understand that if the confidentiality of journalists' sources is not guaranteed, no one will go them with sensitive information," the international journalists' group Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.
Without the use of confidential sources, it is doubtful that the American public would know about many significant crimes and scandals. Without confidential sources, Americans would have never known about the government's abuse of power in the Watergate scandal, which lead to Richard Nixon's resignation of the presidency.
It is the duty of journalists duty to serve as a watchdog of the government, as a part of the balance system that keeps our leaders in check. Journalists such as Taricani should be praised for their integrity, not punished for their actions. This is not a just a question of protecting journalists' rights, it is a question of protecting the public's right to an accountable government.