Mark Feldstein

When journalism professor Mark Feldstein flew to Denver last week, he had one mission — to keep a fellow journalist out of jail.

Feldstein had penned an 18-page affidavit to support FoxNews.com reporter Jana Winter, who has refused to name anonymous sources she used in a follow-up story on the Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting. Although the judge postponed the case until the summer, Winter could be held in contempt of court and sentenced to up to six months in prison if she decides to keep her sources confidential.

It’s a plight with which Feldstein empathizes, as the former CNN and ABC News investigative reporter has been threatened with prison time more than once for refusing to reveal anonymous sources. Serving as an expert witness in court last week, Feldstein hoped to communicate the costs of forcing Winter to name the two law enforcement officials who helped her report that alleged gunman James Holmes sent his psychiatrist a notebook filled with violent drawings just a few days before the July shooting.

Not only is Winter doing her job as a journalist, Feldstein said, but similar cases set a harmful precedent.

“Any time you jail a reporter merely for doing her job, you send a First Amendment chill across the country to other journalists and other sources,” he said. “The public doesn’t get the information it needs in order for a democracy to function in a healthy way.”

Holmes’ defense attorneys claim Winter’s story will taint the jury pool and prevent a fair trial, but Feldstein said the information is no longer relevant.

“Her story ran last summer — it might have had an impact at the time, but to me it seems kind of crazy to go after a reporter who wasn’t an eyewitness to the shooting and has no knowledge of his guilt or innocence,” Feldstein said. “The jury is prejudiced by the horrible nature of the crime itself.”

While court will not reconvene for a few months, the case may already be hurting Winter’s career, said journalism professor Diana Huffman, who teaches media law. While few students will encounter a highly publicized case like Winter’s, Huffman said prospective journalists should be careful about granting people anonymity.

“Now people are afraid to talk to her — the great reporting she has been able to do before is ruined now,” Huffman said. “It’s going to be very difficult for her to get people to talk to her again.

“And from a source’s perspective, you never know whether or not a reporter will be willing to go to jail to protect you,” Huffman added.

Winter is one of the only reporters in several years to face jail time in a contempt case, said journalism college dean Lucy Dalglish. This state has a shield law that allows reporters to protect confidential information, but there is no national shield law, and many students may find themselves in states that offer little protection to journalists. To avoid similar situations, Dalglish said, reporters and sources should discuss how a court order could impact any agreement about confidentiality.

“You shouldn’t be making promises like this wildly,” Dalglish said. “You should know a little bit about First Amendment rights and journalism ethics. Making a promise not to identify someone is very serious.”

However, students said they can imagine scenarios in which using anonymous sources would be unavoidable.

“They seem to be necessary sometimes,” said Zoe Sagalow, a freshman business and journalism major. “What might have happened if Woodward and Bernstein hadn’t been allowed to keep Deep Throat anonymous?”

Freshman journalism major Emily Schweich agreed that if a journalist promises to withhold a person’s name, he or she shouldn’t betray the source’s trust.

“When reporters must make a choice between including relevant information from an anonymous source or not reporting the information at all, I think it’s best to reveal the information,” Schweich said.

So far, Fox News has encouraged Winter not to give up the names, Feldstein said.

“Here in America, we don’t put reporters in jail, we put criminals in jail — at least that’s the way it’s supposed to be,” Feldstein said. “Dictatorships are the ones that imprison journalists, not democracies.”