Fairfax journalists given assurance on protecting sources

Journalists at Fairfax-owned newspapers have been told their confidential sources will remain protected, after the revelation of the Prime Minister's role in a story about former Police Commissioner Peter Doone.

Helen Clark was revealed last month as a source the Sunday Star-Times used to verify statements attributed to Mr Doone in a January 2000 story which led to Mr Doone's launching a defamation action against the newspaper.

Mr Doone withdrew his action against Fairfax last month and is now looking to sue the Prime Minister instead.

Helen Clark has said she believed she spoke to the newspaper on a confidential basis at the time the story was being written.

She was not named in the original story as a source and her role emerged only last month after she provided a brief of evidence for the now-abandoned defamation case against Fairfax.

Her naming sparked concerns among some journalists working for the Fairfax group about the protection of confidential sources.

However, the Dominion Post reported at the weekend that Fairfax editor-in-chief Peter O'Hara told staff in a memo that practice had not changed, and that process had been followed throughout the Doone proceeding.

The memo said that Helen Clark had been asked to provide a brief of evidence to comment on her role in the Sunday Star-Times' verification process and the Government processes which culminated in Mr Doone's resigning as police commissioner.

Helen Clark has warned that she and others will now be more wary than ever about who they talk to and about what information they give out.

Fairfax also denied that it "outed" Helen Clark over her role in the Sunday Star-Times story.

Mr O'Hara's memo said Fairfax's lawyers had discussed serving Helen Clark with a subpoena, but that she did not wish to be subpoenaed "and Fairfax respected that".

"The Prime Minister chose to provide and sign a brief of evidence. There was no further exploration of whether her evidence as to verification could be put before the court in confidence," the memo said.

The January 2000 Sunday Star-Times story related to an incident in November 1999, when Mr Doone intervened after a police officer stopped a car driven by Robyn Johnstone, now his wife, in which he was a passenger.

Court documents said the Sunday Star-Times approached Helen Clark five times to check whether Mr Doone told the police officer "that won't be necessary" in relation to speaking to Ms Johnstone.

- NZPA