Francesca Viola is an assistant professor of journalism at Temple University’s School of Media and Communication and a licensed attorney. She is available to comment on news that the Justice Department tracked phone calls of reporters and editors of the Associated Press and e-mails of Fox News Chief Washington Correspondent James Rosen.
She fears the government has overstepped its responsibility to prosecute federal employees who “leak” national security secrets. “This appears to be an investigation of the reporters of independent news agencies.”
“This activity by the Justice Department will no doubt have a chilling effect on press freedoms,” Viola said. “If reporters are investigated or prosecuted for doing their jobs, will the public have any hope of finding out whether those tasked with representing it are doing theirs?”
“Reporters routinely ask their sources for sensitive information; that is not, nor has it ever has been, a crime. A cursory review of the case law reveals not one instance of a U.S court upholding the prosecution of a reporter under the Espionage Act, which is what the Justice Department's warrant uses to justify its investigation of Rosen.”
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