A federal judge has found former USA Today reporter Toni Locy in contempt of court for refusing to name her confidential sources for a story about the 2001 anthrax attacks. She now faces fines of up to $5,000 a day for refusing to comply with an earlier ruling. A second former reporter, Jim Stewart of CBS News, may face a similar punishment.
The two journalists are being pressed to reveal their sources by Dr Steven Hatfill, once a bio-terrorism expert for the Army, who is suing the federal government, claiming that his reputation was ruined by leaks to the media from law enforcement officials linking him to the attacks.
The order against Locy is in line with recent US court rulings that are said to hamper the work of journalists, but according to Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters committee for freedom of the press, "this is perhaps the most disturbing.
"Toni Locy is being punished for doing what reporters are supposed to do: making sure important information gets to the public about whether the government had the investigation into a major public health threat under control." (Via New York Times)
