Oh how journalists berate secrecy by others.  However, jounalists would rather go to jail than reveal the source of their news.  The height of hypocrisy was reached by Christine Tatum when she labeled Senator Kyl 'senator secrecy.

R M Kraus   Akron Ohio

I received this note from Mr. Kraus and responded via e-mail that we'll just have to agree to disagree on this matter. Journalists may work on behalf of the public, but they are not public officials elected to conduct the people's business as transparently as possible. Big distinction to be made there.

i read with great amusment and interest, charles Davis' column regarding the outing of Senator Kyle. Please dont misunderstand, i agree entirely with the notion of openness in government, and agree entirely with the premis of the article.
What i find amusing, and annoying, is the hypocrisy by the author and spj. Journalists, whatever that term means, are in favor of opennes and following laws, so long as they are exempt therefrom.
Suppose, a staffer of Sen. Kyle called SPJ to out the Senator, and in doing so, broker a federal statute. At that very moment, the jouranlist would employ his own standard of secrecy and deny any court of the name of the outer. so much for openness.
As a lawyer, i get such priviliges, and may agree that other professionals should be afforded similar protections. However, journalists dont fall into the category nor any definition of "professionals".
No ethics are mandated to be followed by spj, nor any other body politic or otherwise, rather they are completly vounltary. No praticular eduction is requuired. No test is necessary to become a journalist. No certification, no continuing education, no standard whatsoever. It is my understanding that Journalists themselves will not limit by definition what constitutes a journalists.
By this standard, pray tell what is wrong wtih this notion: Scooter Libby, when asked who first told him the name, Valerie Playe, responds: Gosh, i would really enjoy shedding light on that topic, but you see, a few years ago, i wrote a regular column that was printed in my hometown newspaper, and at that moment i became a journalist and, still considering myself a journalist, i do not find it necessary to reveal my sources. Well.