Many journalists rejoiced at the news Thursday that two San Francisco Chronicle reporters would avoid jail time for refusing to disclose the source who helped them tell the world about the steroid scandal in major league sports.
But the celebration was quickly joined -- like so many discussions of the nation's press recently -- by questions about not what the two veteran journalists uncovered, but how they uncovered it.
At least a few Chronicle readers slammed reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams for granting anonymity to a source with an ax to grind. Journalism experts said the case again underlined the need for caution in handling secret informants.
Such issues have become particularly ripe in recent days, in the midst of the perjury trial of former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Several prominent reporters in that case have been criticized for granting anonymity to powerful Bush administration sources, who used the secrecy to plant politically charged, and allegedly misleading, information.
"This question is going to come up more and more: Was this source worthy of giving this degree of confidentiality?" said Jane Kirtley, a professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota journalism school.
"Some would say the confidentiality rule applies whether the source is sleazy or not," Kirtley said. "But if you are going to argue for protection for journalists, isn't there some obligation to ask questions about whether it's justified?"
Troy L. Ellerman, 44, pleaded guilty Thursday to two counts of contempt of court, one count of obstruction of justice and one count of filing a false declaration with a federal court for leaking grand jury transcripts to Fainaru-Wada. He could receive up to two years in prison when he is sentenced June 14.
The two Chronicle reporters created a storm in late 2004 when they used confidential transcripts to report on steroid use by famed athletes. They declined Thursday to confirm that Ellerman was the source of the documents, though the lawyer admitted that he had leaked the testimony of, among others, Major League Baseball stars Jason Giambi, Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield.
He also acknowledged that he had blamed prosecutors for the leak. Ellerman had then tried to use the storm of publicity to argue that his client, James Valente, a vice president for BALCO, could not get a fair trial. The company was being investigated for allegedly supplying illegal performance-enhancing drugs to top athletes.
