Would you go to prison?

[Rusty Shackleford]

This may have been asked on here before, but would you go to jail, as the two SF reporters seem bound to do, to protect a source, assuming, of course, that your source isn't some mafia hitman that you're pretty sure would kill you if you named names. In that case, jail is probably the better alternative, I suppose.

But would you go to jail for something like what the SF reporters are facing?

 

[Norman Stansfield]

Depends.

How long are we talking? And is there a journalist segregation block?

 

[Idaho]

The question was asked a day or two ago and fell off the front page. Now, 21 has brought it back on the Anything Goes page
http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/30764/

But I'm glad I work a piddly desk shift and cover a piddly I-AA team where I don't think I'll ever really be presented with the jail-or-no-jail problem.

 

[Lollygaggers]

If I knew that naming my source would sincerely help to rid the game of baseball of performance enhancing drugs by helping the gov't get rid of the people supplying it and humiliating those who have taken it, quite possibly. But there is no guarantee these people will talk to the government or anyone else, and it goes against journalistic integrity to do so. I would need assurances that this would really help the game and society, because that is a bigger cause than keeping these particular sources confidential.

 

[EE94]

Depends.

How long are we talking? And is there a journalist segregation block?

stay in too long and you'll need the Depends

 

[Lester Bangs]

Go to jail. Lionized in your profession. Hit the lecture circuit.

 

[thegrifter]

How's that work with the overtime? Cause considering the loot you could make, hell yeah i'd go to jail.

 

[Guerrillascribe]

Yes, I would. If only for the principle of the matter. Not saying I would like it though. And hopefully it would not be one of those "federal pound-me-in-the-ass" prisons.

 

[tyler durden 71351]

Hell yes I would! You know how bad-ass that is? The only thing more bad-ass than going to jail for story you wrote is writing a story that puts someone in jail, or gets someone released from jail. Plus, I'm pretty sure you don't get put in the pound-me-in-the-ass wing of the jail if you're a reporter refusing to give up a source. You're either in protective custody or hanging out with non-violent criminals (drunks, druggies, johns, hookers).

 

[daemon]

You're either in protective custody or hanging out with non-violent criminals (drunks, druggies, johns, hookers).

Which, as it happens, is the crowd most of us runs with anyway.

Bring it on.

On a serious note, I'd definitely go to jail, but not for the principle of the matter. Jail is just one of those things I'd like to try some time, only in a small dose. Kind of like the military. If that makes any sense.

 

[lone star scribe]

Just wondering, but a lot of newspapers make writers clear sources with an editor (or editors) up the food chain. Is that the case with the SF guys? And if it is, why haven't their editors been similarly subpoenaed?

Another thought: Suppose the paper told you to name the names. Would you refuse?

 

[Buck]

Easier said than done, granted, but I'd go to jail.
The principal is an important one.

 

[DyePack]

Hell yes I would! You know how bad-ass that is? The only thing more bad-ass than going to jail for story you wrote is writing a story that puts someone in jail, or gets someone released from jail.

What's really badass, though, is printing a story or photo that leads someone to commit suicide.

 

[Ace]

Hell yes I would! You know how bad-ass that is? The only thing more bad-ass than going to jail for story you wrote is writing a story that puts someone in jail, or gets someone released from jail.

What's really badass, though, is printing a story or photo that leads someone to commit suicide.

Email me the photo, Dye, and I'll see what we can do.

 

[Ashy Larry]

You're either in protective custody or hanging out with non-violent criminals (drunks, druggies, johns, hookers).

Which, as it happens, is the crowd most of us runs with anyway.

Bring it on.

On a serious note, I'd definitely go to jail, but not for the principle of the matter. Jail is just one of those things I'd like to try some time, only in a small dose. Kind of like the military. If that makes any sense.

daemon....there's really nothing stopping ya from doing either. You could join the military and get arrested by the MP's, serve your time and get discharged....and then write a story on it.

 

[leo1]

i don't think anyone can accurately say what he'd do in that situation. you have to take your family into account. how much money is socked away? would the paper keep paying you? for how long? would our family end up homeless?

it's like reading about a person who acts heroically in a dangerous situation while others freeze. who knows how we'd react in that situation.

(i'm not saying the reporters are heroes or saving lives...just comparing the situations).