On Monday, the Taipei District Court fined United Daily News reporter Kao Nien-yi (
The judge's actions have put an end to the unbridled freedom of expression enjoyed since the end of the Martial Law era. When dealing with conflicting values, judges will not necessarily give priority to protecting freedom of speech.
Protecting one's sources is an important principle for reporters, and an important part of media ethics. It is both a moral responsibility toward the source and the basis for winning the trust of society at large. Once this principle is violated, sources will no longer trust reporters or media outlets, in effect declaring that they have no credibility. The media should not be put in this difficult position. Reporters should be applauded for protecting their sources, not punished.
Of course, protecting the confidentiality of news sources is not a legal requirement, only a function of the freedom of expression that has long been the norm of the Fourth Estate. Those in the media might see it as an inviolable norm, but for other sectors of society, it is not a sacred standard. When there is a conflict of values, such as maintaining national security, investigating a crime or protecting the public interest, prosecutors and judges might not view protecting a journalist's source as vital.
In the US for example, Judith Miller, then a reporter for the New York Times, was jailed for four months last year for contempt of court after refusing to reveal the identity of her source to a federal grand jury. Miller spent 85 days in jail before reaching a deal with the prosecutor based on her source agreeing to be named. While Miller was initially praised for her willingness to go to jail, however, in the end neither she, nor the Times or even the prosecutor emerged with their reputations intact.
Since the end of the Martial Law era, the press has played an important role in the development of Taiwan's democracy. President Chen Shui-bian (
The media must begin thinking about how to uphold its responsibilities if it wants to maintain its freedoms.
The fines imposed upon Kao are not a violation of press freedom. They are simply a matter of making a decision under the pressure of conflicting values, and the media will have to await the public's reaction to the case before determining whether the fines were appropriate.
Reporters should protect the identity of their sources, but when they fail to win the support of the courts and society at large, they and the rest of the media have to make sacrifices in order to uphold their beliefs. This is the price of press freedom.
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