ABSTRACT
A. J. Liebling of the New Yorker, one of the most highly respected journalists of the mid-twentieth century, quipped that “Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.” Liebling’s comment has usually been thought of as a joke, even if containing more than an element of truth, but fewer journalists are laughing these days. On July 6, 2005, New York Times journalist Judith Miller was jailed for refusing to reveal her sources in a high profi le national security case. Miller ultimately spent 85 days in jail before fi nally testifying when her source released her from her pledge of confi dentiality. This case raises two key questions; do journalists need special legal protection to do their jobs, and, in today’s Internet world, who exactly counts as a journalist?
