Definitions 1. The United States: 2. Reporter: A reporter has a more specific function within the realm of journalism. Reporters are usually engaged in the direct gathering and communication of public information, usually through primary information sources such as first-person interviews, news conferences and attendance at news events. The material they communicate is usually -- but not always -- limited to the facts they have gathered; editorializing or sharing opinions on the news is not considered part of the reporter's role. 3. Ought: Implies a moral obligation 4. Right: a basic human right (as defined under the Human Rights Act) which can, in certain circumstances, be overturned by the government or other public body where exercising that right infringes on the rights of another person or group of people. (Based off the Supreme court https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fundamental_right) 5. To protect the identity: to refuse to reveal the identification of confidential source 6. Confidential Sources: Value: The value for this round is morality as implied by the word ought in the resolution. The principle of morality could be described as the obligation to act on the basis of fair judgement between competing claims. Value Criterion: The criterion is taking a pragmatic approach. A pragmatic approach to morality is necessary since the very goal of rational thought is to solve problems of experience. Essentially it is problem solving with practical solutions. (discourse ethics pg. 33 champion) Wakkary 15 says “Dewey committed to the non-metaphysical notion that human knowledge is provisional, incomplete, and probabilistic. Dewey saw such a commitment as neither a reason for despair nor false comfort but as a practical matter of philosophically engaging with human experience as fully as possible without recourse to underlying absolutes or transcendental truths.” No matter what philosophy or theoretical standpoint you take it will never be perfect but pragmatism molds the philosophy or theory so that it can solve for real life. http://www.sfu.ca/~rwakkary/thesis/Wakkary_Chapter_3.pdf http://thorntonhalldesign.com/philosophy/2017/8/13/pragmatic-approach-to-morality Contention #1: The lack of a right to protect confidential sources ruins the purpose of reporters Subpoint A: Press becomes a governmental arm and loses neutral stand Branzburg 17 says, Zelnick, Robert “Journalists and Confidential Sources” Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy. February 2014. Web. https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1220&context=ndjlepp Judge Powell concurring statements If potential informants believe that a subpoena can convert the media into “an investigative arm of the government,” they will be far less likely to share controversial information. Also Robert 14 says Zelnick, Robert “Journalists and Confidential Sources” Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy. February 2014. Web. https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1220&context=ndjlepp Justice Potter Stewart raised a second possible danger: that state and federal prosecutors will for all intents and purposes "annex" the press as "an investigative arm of the government."54 But Justice Lewis F. Powell, concurring with the majority, as much as pledged that the Supreme Court would tolerate no such conduct.5" One might say that Justice Powell's guarantee is very much at issue in the Miller and Traficani matters. Indeed, the Washington-based Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press calculates that subpoenas and other quests for journalists' sources of information now approach two thousand per year. Casting himself now as a dissenting champion of press freedom, Impact: All the decisions we make are influenced by the information we read, most of which comes from reporters. For example what you name your children or what food you buy (Facebook ads)can be influenced by some report that you read, proving its impact on our lives. That being said, if our source of information becomes biased and skewed by the government and other outside sources seeking personal gain, it is the most pragmatic approach to avoid being led into the trap of accepting whatever information is given to us. Subpoint B: The right is essential to exposing corruption Fred 15 says, Fred Nkusi, 11-3, 15, https://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/read/194062 The principle of confidentiality in journalism is a delicate balance, https://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/read/194062 One of the constitutive features of A democratic state is the state that embraces fundamental rights and freedoms, among others, the freedom of expression, including the protection of journalistic confidentiality sources. Across the world a free press depends on the free flow of information from the media to the people and from the people to the media. The issue of disclosing journalistic confidential sources has been a bone of contention in media landscape. It Is noteworthy that the privilege of non- Without upholding this privilege, journalists have little, if any, real role to play in the society. Journalists often receive sensitive, perhaps explosive, disclosure of confidentiality sources is one of the core principles of journalists. information onpolitical issues and have to publish them. Journalists must be able to assure their sources that their identities will remain anonymous in order to encourage the informants to continue supplying them information freely. The protection of sources, sometimes also referred to as the confidentiality of sources, as the reporter’s privilege, is a right accorded to journalists under the laws of many countries, as well as under international law. This privilege is also defined as the right of a journalist to refuse to reveal sources of confidential information. Non- Journalists must be ready to uphold the fruits of their news gathering from scrutiny by government or private entities in order to maintain their editorial line independence. In fact, without these privileges, the ability of the press to scrutinise government and, for example, to uncover corruption would be severely compromised. disclosure of confidential sources is indeed an essential element in promoting both the free flow of information and the public’s right to know. Laura 14 says, Laura R. Handman, Protection of Confidential Sources: A Moral, Legal, and Civic Duty, 19 Notre Dame J.L. Ethics & Pub. Pol'y 573 (2014). https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1222&context=ndjlepp Reporters also rely upon confidential sources to investigate important stories outside the political arena. For example, reporters relied upon confidential sources in their investigation of the Enron accounting fraud scandal.' 3 Recent stories detailing how cigarette companies manipulate nicotine delivery in their products and how such companies have suppressed information regarding the health risks of tobacco were made possible only by the transmission of stolen documents that the companies claimed were subject to a judicial protective order.'4 A Pulitzer Prize-winning series of articles reported on more than 230 fertility fraud stories, exposing cover-ups, intimidation of clinic employees, and hush money payments. As a result, the clinic in question closed, families learned the t true biological origins of their children, and the American Medical Association issued new guidelines for fertility clinics. Although all of the individuals quoted in the stories were identified, the reporter relied upon clinic records she had obtained Reporters may not have been able to provide the public with these kinds of groundbreaking stories without the ability to promise confidentiality to their sources. from unidentified sources. Impact: A reporter, as stated in the previous cards, use their confidential sources as a resource to scrutinize the corruption in the government and other major organizations. The most pragmatic way to expose corruption would be to continue to allow confidential sources to provide reporters with crucial information for the public without risking their integrity. Contention #2: Confidential sources are lifeblood of journalism Subpoint A) Major news stories only come forward because of confidential source Laura R. Handman 14 says https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1222&context=ndjlepp Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy; Protection of Confidential Sources: A Moral, Legal, and Civic Duty Some of our country's most significant political stories have come to light through the efforts of confidential sources. In the Pentagon Papers case, for example, the press published highly classified documents concerning the governmental policies that entangled the United States in Vietnam, despite the fact that the documents were "feloniously acquired" by an unnamed source. In the Watergate investigation, reporters Woodward and Bernstein received and relied upon information regarding the misuse of presidential campaign funds from a confidential source known as "Deep Throat."6 In the years since Watergate, some biggest stories involving government corruption or deception have resulted from information provided by confidential sources, involving such topics as how the FBI's Surreptitious Entry Program routinely broke into people's homes and offices; how the United States masterminded a 1953 coup d'etat in Iran; how a sitting U.S. senator was potentially abusing his authority,7 the Iran-Contra "arms for hostages" deal; and the Anita Hill story that almost derailed a Supreme Court nomination.' of the Impact: Whistleblowers are moral agents. They have everything to lose and nothing to gain. Many of them have jobs on the line. Denying confidential source privilege is denying the means for a moral agent to do what is right. Therefore. the most pragmatic approach to allow whistle blowers to continue to do what they do without the feeling of repercussions is to give reporters the right to protect them. Subpoint B) Sources dry up James M. Porter 02 says , J.D. Candidate, Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington, 2007; B.A., University of Michigan, 2002. “Not Just ‘Every Man’: Revisiting the Journalist's Privilege Against Compelled Disclosure of Confidential Sources.” Vol 82. 2007. http://ilj.law.indiana.edu/articles/82/82_2_Porter.pdf The privilege established by federal courts and state legislatures, however, is inconsistent at best. In addition, there is an emerging trend towards narrowing the privilege. The journalist’s privilege gained particular notoriety from the highly publicized incarceration of former New York Times reporter Judith Miller for her refusal to comply with a court order compelling disclosure of the source who revealed covert CIA agent Valerie Plame identity. While this case incited national debate over the legal soundness of the privilege, the subpoenaing of journalists to testify about their confidential sources is not anomalous in the realm of journalism. Media lawyers report that there has been a recent increase in the number of subpoenas being issued to journalists, and that the legal climate for those seeking to protect confidential sources is turning chillier., 1 4 In addition to a spate of cases in the D.C. Circuit (the Miller and related Matthew Cooper cases,15 as well as the Wen Ho Lee case 6 ), a number of other federal courts, including the First, Fifth, and Seventh Circuits, have recently denied journalists protection from the protections that have served journalists for the past thirty years-from the First Amendment and state statutes, to the common law, and Department of Justice guidelines may no longer be adequate. The tension between investigative journalists, whose objective is to keep the public informed, and prosecutors in search of indictments and justice, is no longer in balance, and thus it is necessary to revisit the journalist privilege disclosing sources.17 These developments indicate that Impact: When sources dry up, reporters are not able to do their job properly or effectively. Recently, more and more is going against reporters, such as increases in subpoenas and pressure to give sources by the law, is constraining their potential for reporting. Giving them this right is the most pragmatic approach as it allows for reporters to have a continuous flow of sources which is essential for information to get from them to the public.
