Protecting a news source is the most important ethic of a reporter. But the Tokyo District Court has mounted a frontal attack on this principle, endangering freedom of press and the people's right to know. The court decided March 14 that when the possibility exists that a news source is a public servant, the reporter cannot refuse to disclose the name of the source since the source may have leaked confidential information in violation of law.
A logical conclusion from this decision is that it could become almost impossible for reporters to meet or contact government officials in person for news gathering, since the latter fear that the reporters would be forced to disclose their names. Reporters would then have no choice but to only pass official announcements on to the public. The judge completely fails to understand the role and function of the mass media.
A reporter's job is to get information that does not appear in official announcements or that government organizations want to hide from the public. In this way, reporters render a service to society. The court's decision would deprive people of the opportunity to know information that government authorities may not want them to know. A higher court should scrap the decision.