Abuse of Privilege: Ulterior Motives, Retaliation, and Turning Reporters into 'Fall Guys' when they Protect Confidential Sources

• In Event: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Free Expression for Stability and Change

Abstract

This paper focuses on four recent cases in which reporters promised their sources confidentiality without realizing that 1) their sources’ motives were malicious and their news stories were in fact false and defamatory, 2) their news stories violated the federal Privacy Act because the sources were divulging private information about ongoing government investigations, or 3) their news story violated the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (in the case of Valerie Plame Wilson).

Author

• Juliet Dee, University of Delaware