CAJ PRESS RELEASE - CAJ supports reporters' decision to protect sources

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CAJ Members: Please note the following press release we issued today November 18, 2004 - 5:38 p.m. EST. via Canada NewsWire. John Dickns

CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CAJ supports reporter�s decision to protect sources

OTTAWA (November 18, 2004) The Canadian Association of Journalists strongly supports a Hamilton Spectator reporter who refused to divulge information to an Ontario court that could reveal the identity of a confidential source.

The CAJ is deeply concerned by an Ontario judge's ruling on Tuesday that found veteran reporter Ken Peters in contempt of court for refusing to obey a judicial order to name a person present at a 1995 meeting in which Peters received sensitive documents.

Peters was covering municipal affairs when he met with two people and obtained documents alleging serious problems at the St. Elizabeth Villa retirement home in Hamilton. Peters then wrote a series of articles based on the documents.

The retirement home is suing the former region, the city and public officials for $15.5 million, saying they were defamatory, negligent and breached their public duties in the wake of allegations about poor care and abuse of residents and staff.

Superior Court Judge David Crane has ruled that Mr. Peters' promise of confidentiality at that meeting did not extend to the second person present, and ordered the reporter to name that person. Mr. Peters refused, arguing that to do so would indirectly reveal his source.

Mr. Peters will learn in a courtroom next week if he is to be fined or jailed if he continues to refuse to obey the judge's order.

"Courts have previously defended the fundamental importance of confidential sources to journalists in a democracy like Canada," said CAJ President Paul Schneidereit. "But it's hard to see what other reason there could be in ordering Mr. Peters to name the second person at that meeting other than as an attempt to unmask his sources. That's simply wrong."

"Journalists need to be able to protect those who come forward with vital public information. Without confidential sources, important stories would go untold and the public interest would suffer," said Schneidereit.

"The protection of confidential sources is one of the most fundamental requirements of a free press. Compelling journalists to break such commitments not only endangers those who come forward with information in the public interest. It threatens to keep matters of vital public importance hidden from all of us. Journalists have a duty to protect their sources and the larger public interest."

Last January, an Ontario Superior Court of Justice judgment quashed a police search warrant seeking documents sent last year to a National Post reporter about a controversial loan to a Quebec hotelier. In her decision, Madam Justice Benotto forcefully recognized the importance of protecting confidential sources who come forward to journalists.

"If the journalist-informant relationship is undermined, society as a whole is affected," she wrote in her judgement. "It is through confidential sources that matters of great public importance are made known. As corporate and public power increase, the ability of the average citizen to affect his or her world depends upon the information disseminated by the press. To deprive the media of an important tool in the gathering of news would affect society as a whole. The relationship is one that should be fostered."

The lack of whistleblower legislation in this country makes keeping the identities of those who leak information of public interest confidential even more important, said Schneidereit.

"Journalists do not enter into confidential agreements lightly. People who want to pass on sensitive information of great public interest often face serious repercussions if named," said Schneidereit.

�As Madame Justice Benotto rightly pointed out, to attempt to deny journalists such an important tool of newsgathering would not serve society's interests."

The Canadian Association of Journalists is a professional organization with more than 1,400 members across Canada. The CAJ's primary roles are to provide public interest advocacy and high quality professional development for its members.

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FOR INFORMATION:
Paul Schneidereit, CAJ President: (902) 426-1124
Robert Cribb, CAJ Past President: (416) 869-4411
John Dickins, CAJ Executive Director: (613) 526-8061
After hours cell: (613) 290-2903

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