Protecting Journalism

The Police Service of Northern Ireland would like Suzanne Breen to come by for a chat.

She's to bring her notes, phones, computers, computer storage devices, and anything else that relates to her coverage of the Real IRA for the Sunday Tribune.

Ms. Breen has declined the invitation. She's a journalist who wrote an article that included interviews with gentlemen who are very dangerous, and the PSNI would like her help in nabbing the miscreants.

She's a journalist. She tracked down people who could give her information that she could report, in her capacity as a newspaper woman. Those people would never talk to her again if she turned them in, and she'd be a poor reporter if she couldn't acquire information. Who'd confide in her again, if she broke the bond of trust?

A journalist's ethics are under assault by the police.

The request of the PSNI was declined, and they have taken their request to the High Court to turn it into a legally binding demand.

Ms. Breen recognizes the fact that she is not a police detective. It's not her job to track down criminals so that they can be arrested. Her job involves asking them questions and quoting them in the newspaper so that people can know more about the inner workings of the Real IRA.

If the PSNI would like to discover the facts behind the murder of IRA double agent Denis Donaldson, they'll have to do the leg work themselves. If they want to learn who organized the murder of two British soldiers outside of Massereene Baracks, they can't grill a journalist who gained access to that information because she promised to keep her sources confidential.

If they want to unmask the Real IRA representative who spoke to Ms. Breen, they'll have to look elsewhere. An investigative reporter should not be considered a witness, doing the work of the police. Such an intrusion would undermine the investigative process, and the public would be worse served in the long run.

The PSNI is due in court today, to obtain an order forcing Ms. Breen to give up her sources.

Life's unfair. The criminals who'll talk to reporters won't talk to the police. A court order won't change it. But a court order could kill the ability of news reporters to gather the news.