North Carolina Sheriff's Deputy impersonates journalist, short-circuits shield law

This is probably not as low as a government official can go in making a mock of the First Amendment, but it's pretty close.

As reported by the Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press, an Onslow County Sheriff's Deputy impersonated a journalist in order to learn who was a reporter's source on a high-profile murder story. The deputy contacted The (Jacksonville) Daily News' Lindell Kay Aug. 8 and, claiming to be writer for Newsweek, asked if he could talk to her source. After clearing it with the source, who wanted to talk to Newsweek, Kay handed over the information.

Last week, the source, an intern in the District Attorney's office, was arrested on embezzlement and larceny charges for allegedly offering to sell a report on the murder case.

Needless to say, the source, Robert Sharpe, is not happy with the Daily News, although the paper's editor said Sharpe has since called to apologize for publicly attacking the paper for not protecting his identity.

What the sheriff's office did was despicable. North Carolina has a shield law that kept the authorities from compelling Sharpe's identity from reporters. Impersonating a reporter was an end-run around the law.

Had any reporter impersonated an Onslow County deputy, you can bet that Sheriff Ed Brown wouldn't be happy, and he'd probably have the reporter arrested, even if the reporter argued that the impersonation served the public good.

Brown's Web site states that, "a good sheriff/servant must have a character of honesty, integrity, fairness, trustworthiness and commitment." I didn't notice an exemption for impersonating reporters.

A reporter's most important tool is credibility. Without it, a journalist is dead in the water, just another hack. This stunt erodes some of Newsweek's credibility, as well as the Daily News, which was duped by this deputy. But the worst thing is it discourages whistleblowers, who may fear that the reporter who is eager to listen to him is actually a cop ready to bust him for speaking out. This is the kind of thing we expect in China or some other repressive regime, not in a country where the first article in the Bill of Rights protects both the press' right to publish and people's right to speak.

Give Sheriff Brown a call at (910)455-3113 and tell him what you think about his tactics.