It's always unfortunate when a reporter is sent behind bars for failing to turn over sources. There's no way to say what the long-term outcome will be.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I know a lot of reporters certainly will go to jail to defend confidential sources. Some have even gone to jail for an issue like this. But I can't say that's the norm.
There is no higher claim to journalistic integrity than going to jail to protect a source.
A basic rule of life for reporters is that you should spend your time talking with and learning about people who are not sending you press releases, rather than those who are.
I think, though, that people will read into a reporter's story a bias that they want to see in a reporter.
There's no question that sources sometimes have interests aside from the truth when they talk to reporters. That's why reporters have to very aggressively report against their own theses and against their initial information.
I've been in several situations where police officers and district attorneys have had the cooperation of people in the news media without either endangering the reporter or compromising their sources.
Most reporters who come to me get their stories directly from press releases. Very few do what one would consider to be their professional duty.
Journalists say a thing that they know isn't true, in the hope that if they keep on saying it long enough it will be true.
I've been a reporter for 20 years, and I don't ever get things wrong. That's important in terms of my professional status.
I thought that was the crown jewel of the reporter's resume - to actually go to jail protecting a source.