Freedom of Press

Wednesday 20 May 09

'I'm not going to put my life in danger to do the PSNI's job': Northern Editor Suzanne Breen explains why she will not comply with police pressure to reveal her sources in the Real IRA.
Last Monday, a Police Service of Northern Ireland officer arrived at Suzanne's Belfast home with a letter. Detectives wanted her computer, disks, notes, phone, and any material relating to stories she'd written about the Real IRA.
She was given three days to comply. If I didn't, they'd seek a court order under the Terrorism Act.
Despite all of this, she won't be complying. She reminds everybody that the duty of a reporter to protect their sources is part of the National Union of Journalists' code of conduct. It doesn't matter whether those sources are police, paramilitaries, politicians, or civil servants.
What the police seems not to take into account is that compliance would destroy her life. No organisation or individual with sensitive information would trust her again and even worse, her life would be in imminent danger if she did what the PSNI wants. "The Real IRA is utterly ruthless" she affirmes.
“It's the job of police, not journalists, to bring those responsible to justice . The information I have about both attacks was printed in this newspaper. It's in the public domain.
I've no other information to substantially advance the police investigation. The Real IRA don't tell journalists their gunmen's identities. I wasn't allowed to record my interview".

What are your views on it? Do you think protection of sources is vital for press freedom in a democracy and compromising sources damages its ability to provide accurate and reliable information, or there are cases where the Journalists' code of conduct shouldn't count so much and journalists should collaborate more with police?
Let us know on our forum!