The Obama administration stumbled badly in recent months as it
repeatedly overstepped its authority in seeking information from news
organizations. Prosecutors swept up phone records tracking calls by
reporters and editors of the Associated Press, suggested that a Fox News
reporter might be criminally prosecuted and continued their vigorous
pursuit of information held by reporters in ferreting out alleged leaks.
For that, the administration has been properly excoriated.
On Friday, however, Atty. Gen Eric H. Holder Jr. unveiled
new guidelines to govern the department's behavior in cases involving
news organizations. Those guidelines represent a historic step toward
restraining the reach of government and affirming the rights of a free
press. The administration got to this place only because of the outrage
it brought on itself, but it got to the right place anyway.
Most important, the new guidelines ensure that news organizations, in
almost all instances, are given notice when prosecutors seek records
related to news gathering. Notice, which was not given to the Associated
Press, allows organizations to discuss the request with the Justice
Department and, if necessary, to contest it in court.
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