Cleveland Plain Dealer Withholding Two Articles after Miller Jailing?

[flpoljunkie]

Anybody know anything about this? One, of course, immediately wonders if it has anything to do with the 2004 election or, for that matter, Coingate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/09/national/09cleveland.html?ei=5088&en=6db3499adc28c260&ex=1278561600&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

July 9, 2005


Newspaper Withholding Two Articles After Jailing

By ROBERT D. McFADDEN

The editor of The Cleveland Plain Dealer said last night that the newspaper, acting on the advice of its lawyers, was withholding publication of two major investigative articles because they were based on illegally leaked documents and could lead to penalties against the paper and the jailing of reporters.

The editor, Doug Clifton, said lawyers for The Plain Dealer had concluded that the newspaper, Ohio's largest daily, would probably be found culpable if the authorities were to investigate the leaks and that reporters might be forced to identify confidential sources to a grand jury or go to jail.

"Basically, we have come by material leaked to us that would be problematical for the person who leaked it," Mr. Clifton said in a telephone interview. "The material was under seal or something along those lines."

In an earlier interview with the trade journal Editor & Publisher, which published an article on its Web site late yesterday, Mr. Clifton said that lawyers for The Plain Dealer and its owner, Newhouse Newspapers, had strongly recommended against publication of the articles.

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[HereSince1628]

1. Isn't that part of the media conspiracy to break the rule of law?

:tinfoilhat:

Find anything you can throw at the public to make it look like the press has lost the ability to do its job. Convince us that even conspiracy to commit treason against the United States is not as important as a claimed privilege of the press.

Now a nonfunctional journalism industry can blame someone else for their failure.

[MnFats]

2. this is the 'chilling effect'

which the * administration wanted.
Judith Miller or not, tossing reporters in jail over sources is bullshit.
bye-bye, First Amendment.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Anybody know if Ohio has a shield law, or...

are they afraid of the Feds?

on edit:

I checked, and Ohio has a very effective shield law.

So, what is putting the fear of god into them?

[mike_c]

5. federal grand juries, no doubt....

eom

[jimshoes]

4. Now the Cleveland Plain Dealer

could opt to let the cat out of the bag in such a way that they do not trample anyones privacy or they can sit on the info and let the crimes and criminals go unpunished. Back in the 70's, I'm sure the Washington Post wrestled with the same type of problems in bringing the Watergate story to the people. The Cleveland PD seems to me to be copping out of its responsibility to inform the citizenry and opting to protect the guilty. Shame on you PD.

ed:sp

[aquart]

6. Are their lawyers Republicans?

Just curious.

[flpoljunkie]

7. Don't know, but found this AP article which gives a little more info...

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cleveland9jul09,1,6299988,print.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

Fearing Legal Battle, Ohio Newspaper Holds Stories

From Associated Press

July 9, 2005

CLEVELAND — The Plain Dealer, Ohio's largest newspaper, is holding two investigative stories based on leaked documents because they could result in the type of court showdown that led to a New York Times reporter being jailed, the paper's editor said Friday.

The Plain Dealer is trying to find a way to publish the stories without relying on the documents, editor Doug Clifton said.

"It was documentation that would have been illegal to share, so there wasn't any ambiguity about what we had," Clifton said.

On Wednesday, New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed for contempt of court after refusing to testify about a confidential source. A prosecutor wants information from Miller as part of an investigation of how the name of an undercover CIA officer was leaked to a columnist.

Clifton said the Plain Dealer had decided several weeks ago — before Miller was imprisoned — to withhold the stories because the leaked documents could result in subpoenas and court sanctions, including jail. The stories deal with local and state government.

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