Do journalists have a constitutional right to keep sources confidential? That question sits at the heart of a dispute over a Fox News report from Catherine Herridge seven years ago. Herridge, who recently got unceremoniously and strangely terminated by CBS News in the Paramount Minus downsizing, used a confidential source within federal law enforcement to publish information from an investigation into a Chinese-American scientist that eventually went nowhere.
Yanping Chen wants to recover damages and punitive awards from the officials who leaked the investigation to Herridge. Herridge refuses to name her source(s) despite a court order to do so. Late yesterday, the federal judge overseeing the case held Herridge in contempt and began fining her $800 a day, although he stayed the ruling to allow Herridge to appeal:
Herridge sat for a deposition in late September but refused to reveal…
