The Press: No Secrets

To working reporters, freedom of the press also covers the right of newspapermen to keep secret the names of their sources. Last week, in Canada, the Supreme Court said not so. In a precedent-making decision the court ruled that when malice is an issue in a libel suit, reporters must name their sources or lose their right to make a defense. The case grew out of a libel suit brought by Gordon Wismer, onetime Attorney General of British Columbia, against Blair Fraser, Ottawa editor of Maclean's magazine, who had written an article on backroom political shenanigans in B.C. Under the cloak of privilege, Editor Fraser had stubbornly refused to name his sources. Now, unless he changes his mind, the court will have little to do except assess the damages. Cried Vancouver's Province: The ruling amounts to "tearing away all the reporter's protection . . . Reporters henceforth will not be admitted behind the scenes."