WEEK 4: Confidential Sources

Throwing journalists in jail — a long American tradition. On
the left is James Franklin. On the right is Julian Assange.

Actual charges against William Duane,
editor of the Philadelphia Aurora,
charged with contempt in 1800 for
reporting information leaked to him by
members of Congress themselves. 

READING  Margaret Blanchard Predicted Julian Assange's Fate and the Shame of the Mainstream 'Institutional' Press, Smith (Word doc sent by e-mail).

OPTIONAL READING  The Real Story Behind the Nation's First Shield Law: Maryland, 1894-1897, Smith. Available HERE

LECTURE  From James Franklin to Julian Assange: Journalists, Their Sources and Jail Time.

DISCUSSION  Team up with your discussion partner (we'll figure that part out in class). A) Talk both about the broad issue of whistleblowers — and how the government tries to punish whistleblowers — and the specific case of Julian Assange and Wikileaks. What do you think? B) As you talk, go online and do some additional research. C) In articles you find, do you find that journalists generally support Julian Assange or not? Why and why not? D) If you were writing an editorial about this issue, both broadly and specifically about Assange, what position would you take? 

BLOG  After talking and researching and thinking out loud with your discussion partner, write a 500-word editorial as it might appear on a news website, in a newspaper or magazine, or on TV. Post it to your blog. This is an assigned post that will get a separate grade. You don't need to do another post this week if you don't want to. 

EXPLORE   More about on this topic on the website of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Check out their page on Protecting Sources, which follows news on the topic. Also check out RCFP's Reporter's Privilege Compendium, which tells you about protections available in all 50 states.

Ten years in captivity for telling the truth — and no actual charges against him.