GLOBAL COLUMN© BY TED CORDOVA

A Reporter went to jail to save freedom of information

Judith Miller,the NY Times valiant reporter that refused to reveal a source in a CIA link incident, has thus uncovered the malefic power exercised from behind the scenes by Vicepresident Dick Cheney.

The source in question was I.Lewis Libby, vicepresident., Cheney chief of staff on july 8. Was the “source trying to manipulate the reporter? Its up to you dear reader, to believe it or not.

Reporter Miller, an expert on geopolitics and armament industry in the Middle East, was freed Friday sep.30 after spending more than twelve weeks in jail during which she refused to breach the right of secrecy of sources that American journalists do have. During her jail time, she refused to cooperate with the inquiry. In doing so, she won an important point in the battle for freedom of the press in the US, a fight some deem to be necessary in this times of global fear.

“We continue to believe that a strong federal shield law so that similar injustices… are not suffered by other journalists”, said in a statement Arthur Sulzberger jr., publisher of The New York Times. Finally, her decision to testify was made after she obtained a waiver offered voluntarily and personally by the source in question.

And that source happens to be somebody linked and depending under the Vicepresidency of the current Government.

As for Miller, she started her statement with a simple line: ”It’s good to be free”.

She also said: ”I am grateful to the many fellow journalists and citizens from the United States and around the world who stood with me in fighting for the cause of the free flow of information.”

In fact, most of the global media should be grateful to Judith Miller, I write.

BIP