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NUJ The Guardian

NUJ says ‘don’t criminalise sources’ after Guardian reporter questioned

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

September 7, 2011 | 2 min read

The NUJ has said that sources should not be criminalised, after the Guardian’s special investigations correspondent Amelia Hill was questioned by police officers investigating alleged leaks of information from Operation Weeting.

Hill (pictured) was one of the journalists who wrote about developments in the phone-hacking scandal at News of the World.

As part of a statement, the Guardian said: “On a broader point, journalists would no doubt be concerned if the police sought to criminalise conversations between off-record sources and reporters.”

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary,has now said: “There is a vital journalistic principle at stake here. It is outrageous that an allegation of off-the-record briefings is being treated as a criminal matter. There is a clear distinction between legitimate off-the-record interviews and the illegitimate payment of bribes.

“In this case the allegation is simply that a Scotland Yard detective is an off-the-record source. There is no suggestion of bribery or corruption and there is no suggestion that anything said by the source threatened national security, jeopardised the course of the hacking inquiry, or invaded anybody's privacy.

“No employer likes an employee to talk to the press without permission. In this case the police appear to be using the criminal law at their disposal rather than simply resorting to internal disciplinary proceedings. Using criminal law as a weapon to silence people in the workplace is highly inappropriate.

“Good journalism depends on off-the-record sources and as journalists our sources are sacrosanct. We don't want to live in a society in which the only information from the police is the official line authorised by the commissioner or an official press release.

“Any threat to the protection of sources is a direct threat to citizen’s right to know and absolutely not in the public interest.”

NUJ The Guardian

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