Lucy Dalglish comes to Albany

Executive Director of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Lucy Dalglish came to the University at Albany to share a lesson on disappearing freedom of the press laws and her ideas on good journalism habits/ethics. There were three speakers used to introduce her, Dr. William Rainbolt, then Professor Rosemary Armao and Bob Porter, Times Union reporter who all spoke highly of her and each other. All four speakers are seasoned journalists.

Dalglish started her presentation on a light note with the exclamation, “Let there be light, I can read now,” when the over head lights were turned on for her. Next, she said “I’ve known Rosemary long enough to know that when she calls and asks to do something, you don’t say no.” She has been the executive director for three years and is a journalist who practices law now. She said, “there is nothing so complicated that I have done as a lawyer than journalist protection law.”

Dalglish spoke about government agencies passing different laws like the privacy act to get journalists to revel their sources if they are not named with the information they shared. She said that some of the laws succeed in getting journalists to break their promises to their anonymous sources by getting judges to make them release names or pay high prices. As a result of this, sources dry up. No one wants to come forward to publicly share information that could be news and journalists are being looked at as untrustworthy to people brave enough to share information anonymously.

“Many high official sources have dried up”, says Dalglish, “they won’t talk without source protection.” Judges can ask reporters to produce their notes and names and view all the information that they have recorded. Dalglish recounted the case of Toni Locy who is being subpoenaed for names from terrorist investigations. The government wants to know who leaked the information. She always had the habit of throwing away her notes and lists of sources. When asked to give them up, she said I don’t have the written. She was asked to try to remember the names and she said no. Now she is being subpoenaed at $5,000 a day with no help of reimbursement from anyone. She is not a rich woman so she is being used as an example to send a message to journalist.

Many journalists throw their notes away after a certain amount of time or when they are done with them, it is a normal thing. Dalglish advises young journalists on good ethical habits. She says, “it is important to make clear what your relationship will be” between journalist and sources; “keep in mind emails don’t belong to you”, “phone records belong to the phone company ”, “Be Matt Damon ” in the Bourne movies, “don’t throw notes away, don’t trash email”. Dalglish said an important one to follow is “whatever you do, be consistent, if you’re going to pitch them, pitch all, if you’re going to keep them, keep all.” Don’t leave holes in your notes if you are usually an organized note keeper because it will look suspicious.