STEWART has decided to give evidence voluntarily in the case against the man accused of being his confidential source . . . It is an extraordinary development in a case destined to go down in the textbooks as a case study in how journalists deal with confidential sources.
There was nothing voluntary about it, the source released him. Stewart, The Weekend Australian, Saturday:
IN doing so, he had upturned the fundamental principle which allows journalists to protect a source under the (media union's) Code of Ethics.
In fact, Stewart had no choice. Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance statement, November 11 last year:
IT is not for journalists to speculate as to a source's motives for releasing them from a confidentiality agreement nor can a journalist choose to ignore the decision to release him or her from a confidentiality agreement. Nor, in such circumstances, can journalists choose to disobey the law by refusing to co-operate.
Simon's best, if cheap, shot. Crikey November 2, last year:
FORMER editor of The Australian Paul Whittaker bargained with the AFP over how many lives would be lost if the newspaper published its scoop on the Operation Neath anti-terrorism operation before raids took place, it was revealed in the Melbourne Magistrates Court today.
No, it was alleged, not revealed. Same story, nine pars down:
IN a statement released this afternoon, Whittaker said that his recollection of the conversation differed from that of Negus.
Wrong target. Simons on Crikey, May 7, 2010:
DOCUMENTS now available on the Federal Court file show that Stewart told the News Limited legal team last March that publication of the OPI report would be "likely to cause him reputational loss".
Wrong, wrong, wrong:
THE Federal Court file states that the applicants in the proceedings are Nationwide News, publisher of The Australian, and Paul Whittaker, then the paper's editor.
Simons sums up. Email to The Australian, Monday:
THE core issue in this case is that there was no public interest in the Operation Neath scoop, and considerable harm and potential harm in how The Australian handled it.
The independent federal police oversight agency's judgment, The Australian, November 19, 2010:
THE federal police watchdog has cleared The Australian of any wrongdoing in its exclusive coverage of the country's second largest terror investigation, Operation Neath. A report released today found that the newspaper acted in good faith when it withheld publication of its stories for five days for national security reasons and then published only after the Australian Federal Police gave the paper permission to do so.
Odious comparisons. Paul McGeough, The Sydney Morning Herald, Sunday:
TEARS don't cut it, Mr President. After another school massacre on Friday, a tearful Barack Obama declared "our hearts are broken", before promising "meaningful action". Sadly, the man is not to be believed . . . Americans like to tut-tut at the barbarity of those depraved people in Syria who, since the outbreak of civil war early last year, have killed an estimated 40,000 of their own. But, ho-hum, as many as 30,000 Americans die from gun violence every year.
At least Obama wants to stop both slaughters. McGeough, the SMH, June 20:
DESPITE a firming Western consensus that only the ouster of the Assad regime can resolve the bloody conflict in Syria. The US President, Barack Obama, seemingly has failed to sell his argument to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
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