Academic

WILLIAM SAFIRE CALLS ME OUT on a case I hadn?t heard anything about: It?s about David Ashenfelt?

By Glenn Reynolds

WILLIAM SAFIRE CALLS ME OUT on a case I hadn’t heard anything about:

It?s about David Ashenfelter of The Detroit Free Press, a Pulitzer winner threatened with jail next week for refusing to reveal a source for his article about a 2004 investigation of a federal prosecutor who was later indicted for withholding evidence. (Shades of the Ted Stevens case.) The prosecutor, who was later acquitted, sued Justice and demanded that the reporter testify about his sources. The judge threatens jailing for contempt. ?Every word he wrote was true,? says Lucy Dalglish, the lawyer who heads the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, ?yet now he faces jail and possible bankruptcy for doing his job.?

Here goes some punditry: In the age of pundicity, where are the other outraged blogs? Why is the Web-footed punditariat ducking? Where?s Instapundit?

This is the first I’ve heard about it, but I’ll look into things further. Sounds a bit like the Vanessa Leggett case, which I wrote about here. On the other hand, I’ve never believed that professional journalists have any special right to keep sources confidential, beyond that enjoyed by other Americans.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on April 20, 2009 (boomark / email).