North of the Border Intermedia War Over Anonymous Bloggers Breaks Out

Image via WikipediaThe Yukon News and CBC Radio have reached an accord, averting what could have been a precedent-setting case involving one Canadian news organization suing another to identify that media outlet's anonymous sources, according to an article in the Whitehorse Star, as reported by www.stinkyjournalism. org.

The News wanted a CBC reporter to identify her anonymous sources from a 2004 story involving a prescription drug abuse case so that the daily could use those sources as witnesses to defend itself against a defamation suit brought by a physician.  Under a consent decree involving the two media organizations and the physician, the News will pay the radio station's legal costs. In turn, the CBC reporter will testify on the Yukon News' behalf at the defamation trial, rather than "out" her sources.