Protecting our rights or preserving their privileges?

Jeff Jarvis has a long, over-wrought piece trying to rally bloggers to the defense of The New York Times and Judith Miller. He is one hundred per cent behind the Times's logic that protecting sources is vital to the First Amendment

Quoth the Times as quoted by Jarvis:

The press simply cannot perform its intended role if its sources of information - particularly information about the government - are cut off. Yes, the press is far from perfect. We are human and make mistakes. But, the authors of our Constitution and its First Amendment understood all of that and for good reason prescribed that journalists should function as a "fourth estate." As Justice Potter Stewart put it, the primary purpose of the constitutional guarantee of a free press was "to create a fourth institution outside the government as an additional check on the three official branches."

I think that is flat wrong for reasons outlined in this post:

On leaks, bias and truth

As for our rights as citizens being protected by the press, that, too, is problematic. The Bill of Rights is more than just freedom of the press. When it comes to the right to a fair trial, the press often helps the government taint the jury pool and deny defendants the presumption of innocence. See this:

Perp Walk

That is true even in the case at hand. Joe Wilson's partisans (including people at the Times) have pointed the finger at Scooter Libby, Karl Rove, and others in this administration. That taint clings to them. Judith Miller and other reporters have information that can identify the party responsible for the leak and can clarify the circumstances surrounding the release of the information. In so doing, they may also clear innocent parties who have been smeared.

Jarvis does not even mention this aspect of the case. As an old MSM guy, he sees only the interests of his buddies.

UPDATE: This post from last week by Beldar Blog is too good to miss:
The NYT's Judith Miller, Jack Shafer's "impossible mynx," is no true martyr

Off to OTB's Beltway Traffic Jam.