Reporter Under Jail Threat Keynotes Lisagor Awards

Reporter Under Jail Threat Keynotes Lisagor Awards

CHICAGO, April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Time Magazine White House Correspondent Matthew Cooper, facing jail time for refusing to divulge his sources, will speak Friday night on the home turf of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

Cooper will appear at the presentation of the Chicago Headline Club's 28th annual Peter Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism. The organization asked him to deliver the event's keynote speech to send a message about the imminent danger to reporter's privilege caused by the government's attempts to hold Cooper and New York Times reporter Judith Miller in contempt of court.

Cooper will speak at 7:00 p.m. at the Westin Chicago River North, 320 N. Dearborn in Chicago.

Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, was appointed special prosecutor to investigate whether any Bush administration official violated federal law by telling reporters that Valerie Plame, whose husband wrote a piece critical of the Bush administration in the New York Times, was a CIA employee. An author of the federal law in question has suggested that the law was not broken because Plame was not a covert employee.

Some reporters agreed to appear before a grand jury Fitzgerald convened to investigate the case but Cooper and Miller have refused. Friday evening, Cooper will explain why.

Unless the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the ruling of the federal appellate court, Cooper and Miller appear headed to jail. Reporter's privilege, which the press invokes to grant confidential sources anonymity, rests on a fragile U.S. Supreme Court concurring opinion. Some legal experts fear it could be further weakened or destroyed if this prosecution against Cooper and Miller proceeds.

The Headline Club will also give out two Ethics in Journalism Awards on Friday.

One will go to Chicago Sun-Times publisher John Cruickshank for disclosing last year that he had discovered the newspaper had been exaggerating its circulation by 50,000 a day for seven years. Other publications reported similar circulation irregularities in the wake of Cruickshank's disclosure. The second ethics award goes to NBC-5 reporter Anna Davlantes, who persevered in reporting an investigative story even after she says a man threatened her and her family if she proceeded.

The Chicago Headline Club is dedicated to promoting the highest ideals of journalism. As the largest chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Club's purpose is to provide an effective means for Chicago-area journalists to participate in programs to improve journalism standards, recognize excellence, encourage young journalists, advance the cause of freedom of information and enhance the prestige of the profession.

The Club also sponsors the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists (1-866-DILEMMA), the Les Brownlee Journalism Series, and the Chicago Headline Club/INBA Job File.

Source: Chicago Headline Club

CONTACT: Ben Bradley for Chicago Headline Club, +1-312-961-6601 or benjamin.a.bradley@abc.com

Web site: http://www.headlineclub.org/

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