On the heels of news that the Justice Department seized phone records of Associated Press reporters, the Obama administration has further roiled the press with the revelation that a Fox News reporter was named in a court affidavit as a co-conspirator in the leak of classified information on North Korean missile activity. The case centered on a 2009 article by James Rosen. (The New York Times, May 20, 2013, by Brian Stelter and Michael D. Shear)
Many see the act of naming Rosen as a co-conspirator as serious threat to the free press and First Amendment. But Justice Department was quick to say they had never prosecuted for articles containing information obtained through illegal leaks by government officials and did not plan to prosecute Rosen. (The Huffington Post, May 20, 2013, by Ryan J. Reilly)
With editorial widely condemning the Obama administration over the Rosen revelations, Jack Shafer of Reuters, May 20, 2013, speculated that Rosen was negligent in covering his tracks in contacting his source in the State Department and by e-mail.