Should Gerard
McManus and Michael Harvey go to jail? We asked a former Supreme Court
judge and Royal Commissioner, Sir Edward Woodward, today. Although he’s
often sceptical about journalists who hide behind their code of ethics
to try and conceal unsubstantiated journalism, he told Crikey he
believes the Harvey and McManus case is different and from all accounts
looks like a landmark case for Australian journalism.

“Sometimes
journalists refuse to disclose their sources because often they don’t
often have a source,” he said. “It doesn’t apply in this case because
what they have done in this case is reveal genuine documents.”

He
said contempt laws play an important role in Australia – even if
journalists don’t believe it – and he said that for cases involving
national security and terrorism it’s completely acceptable for
reporters to have the fear of imprisonment looming over them. “I don’t
think journalists should be above the law… (and) if they choose to
spend a couple of months in the clink for their ethics then I don’t
necessarily think that’s a bad thing.”

Journalism co-ordinator
at Melbourne’s RMIT University Matthew Ricketson said Harvey and
McManus shouldn’t expect a lot of sympathy from the public if they’re
sent to jail. Pressures to restrict civil liberties have never been
stronger, he said, and journalists are not the most popular figures in
the community.