News Sources

Upping the ante in the fight between the press and the courts over confidential sources, a judge here has imposed daily fines on a former reporter for USA Today that could quickly bankrupt her unless she reveals all of her sources at the Justice Department and the FBI. Toni Locy, who now teaches journalism at West Virginia University, faces a $500 daily fine beginning at midnight. Next week, the fines will go up to $1,000 per day, then to $5,000 a day the week after.

The Associated Press recently pulled a Metallica online, and no, that's not a good thing. Metallica, one of the most popular heavy-metal bands of all time, has become a symbol for cluelessness about the Internet -- witness the episode two weeks go, when the band forced music bloggers to take down reviews of its as-yet-unreleased new album after inviting them to hear it.

Citing a journalist's need to keep news sources confidential, a federal judge in Santa Ana declined Thursday to order a reporter to reveal the names of federal officials who leaked information to him for a 2006 story about a grand jury investigation into a scheme to send sensitive military technology to China. Washington Times reporter Bill Gertz was subpoenaed to testify in federal court by U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney.

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.

Google Inc. is giving the subjects of news stories a way to comment on articles written about them. The online search leader launched an experimental feature this week on its Google News site in the U.S. that allows any person mentioned in a news story that's linked on that site to submit a written response. A Google employee must verify the authenticity of the e-mail.

By now, most people who read the papers and watch broadcast news probably have heard about all they can bear about the exponential growth of new media and its widening acceptance, particularly among young people. At some point, the average reader probably is entitled to take a long pull of coffee and say, "OK, we all know about your wrenching challenge, so change, innovate, whatever. Cope already, for God's sake, and get on with it."

As newspaper giant Knight Ridder Inc. began mulling over buyout bids after a 5 p.m. deadline Thursday, investors and employees weren't the only ones worrying about the future. Readers and community leaders around the country also are concerned that new owners of the nation's No. 2 newspaper chain will scale back coverage, install unfamiliar leaders or cut charity and other civic efforts. "No change would be good," said Mike Levsen, mayor of Aberdeen, S.D.

Senators began a new effort to pass a media shield law Thursday, reintroducing legislation they said would protect journalists from being sent to jail for refusing to reveal their sources in most cases. The bill, rewritten with guidance from more than 30 news organizations, drew new support after changes that could force reporters to disclose sources if they witnessed a crime or obtained information deemed secret by law.

Victor Conte, the founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative who served prison time on a steroid dealing conviction, has been identified as a source the San Francisco Chronicle used to report on the scandal, which included stories detailing the grand jury testimony of Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi.

Attorneys for two reporters, who face jail if they refuse to reveal who gave them secret testimony on the use of steroids by star athletes, argued Friday that hamstringing the press' ability to gather news would harm the public interest more than the leak did.