Free Press

ESPN's Jim Caple dramatically describes the contempt of court case against the Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams as a War on Journalists:

If a reporter can't guarantee confidentiality, sources won't talk. That means stories about crooked government contractors pocketing your tax money, companies that are polluting the water you drink, corporations that are building unsafe vehicles you drive, cops on the take who are supposed to be protecting you, elected officials bending the law to serve themselves instead of you -- you name it -- won't get written.

You will, however, still be able to get some very nice releases from a government spokesperson or slick PR guy telling you that everything is just fine, the radiation leak isn't harmful at all, contamination from the spill didn't reach dangerous levels, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, these aren't the droids you're looking for.

Caple grudgingly admits that well, yeah, the reporters are protecting…well, to be blunt about it, lawbreakers:

Who is the real target here? Steroid abusers or the press?

I can understand the court's desire to protect what is supposed to be confidential grand jury testimony by finding the source of the leaks. Yes, that's a legitimate aim. But how about doing a little investigative work yourself before tossing the reporters in jail? Besides, didn't they do exactly what the investigation was supposed to be doing? Shine the public light on the steroid business?

Funny, I thought that the investigation was to determine if laws were broken. And not to shine the public light on stuff that’s supposed to be kept confidential.

This isn't a case of the press valiantly defending the rights of the little guy. It's a case of someone breaking the law to deny someone else's rights (i.e., Bonds' right to confidential grand jury testimony). Freedom of the press is not the issue; the issue is whether or not the law applies to everyone equally.