Reporting: Problems of Protecting a Source

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The headline in the University of Oregon's student newspaper said STU DENTS CONDONE MARIJUANA USE. But when the district attorney asked Daily Emerald Managing Editor Annette Buchanan just who the students in her story were, she refused to say. It was not that Annette did not know. She simply thought that the right to silence was part of the freedom of the press. And last week she said she would stick by that right, come law or high water.

To Annette and most Americans, freedom of the press is an all-encom passing concept that is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. That freedom is in deed considerable. But — except in twelve states* — if a newsman is in possession of information pertinent to a criminal investigation, he is as obliged as any other citizen to disclose it. For mer New York Herald Tribune TV Columnist Marie Torre found that out in 1959 when she served ten days for refusing to identify a source.

Annette, who faces a jail sentence of up to six months and a $300 fine, says she will appeal if she is found in contempt of court. Marie Torre said the same thing. But the U.S. Supreme Court would not even review her case.