Crush Liberalism

Judge tells journalist in contempt of court: “The media has to be responsible!”

Do you have any idea what kind of message this sends to would-be journos everywhere?  I mean, requiring responsibility from the MSM will do nothing but produce a chilling effect across the (yellow) journalism industry!  How in the world do you expect us to ever see any future Ratheresque stories based on forged documents if the MSM is required to be “responsible”, hmmm?  From the AP:

A federal judge held a former USA Today reporter in contempt Friday for refusing to identify her sources for stories about a former Army scientist under scrutiny in the 2001 anthrax attacks.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said Toni Locy must pay fines of up to $5,000 a day out of her own pocket as long as she continues to defy his order that she cooperate in scientist Steven J. Hatfill’s lawsuit against the government.

Hatfill accuses the Justice Department of violating his privacy by discussing the investigation with reporters.

Starting at midnight Tuesday, the fines will be $500 a day for the first week, $1,000 a day for the second week and $5,000 thereafter until she appears before him on April 3.

“To maximize the potential that Ms. Locy will ultimately comply with the court’s order … Ms. Locy is required to personally bear the responsibility of paying the fine the court imposed,” Walton wrote.

Locy “is precluded from accepting any monetary or other form of reimbursement,” the judge added.
… 
“I don’t like to hold anyone in contempt,” Walton said. “I fully appreciate the importance of a free press. On the other hand, the media has to be responsible
…
“There’s not a scintilla of evidence to suggest Dr. Hatfill had anything to do with it,” the judge said, yet the public notoriety has “destroyed his life.”

Just because the MSM ruined an innocent man’s life (like they did to wrongly accused Olympic Park bomber Richard Jewell) doesn’t mean we need to overreact by mandating something crazy like responsibility out of the MSM!  When will madness like this end?

For those of you on the left, this post was rife with sarcasm.

March 10, 2008 - Posted by crushliberalism | media bias