Journalists face jail time over leak

Two journalists must disclose conversations with their confidential sources to a grand jury investigating a leak that exposed the identity of a covert CIA operative, a United States appeals court ruled.

It upheld a ruling that found New York Times investigative reporter Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper, the White House correspondent for Time magazine, in contempt for refusing to testify. They each could be jailed for up to 18 months.

The three-judge panel ruled that the two journalists must comply with a subpoena from a grand jury investigating whether the Bush Administration illegally leaked the CIA officer's name to the news media.

Arthur Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times, vowed to challenge the decision.

Time's editor-in-chief said no journalist should be jailed for doing his or her job. The grand jury has heard testimony from officials and journalists to try to establish who leaked the name of a CIA operative, Valerie Plame, in 2003 to columnist Robert Novak, who revealed her identity in a column.

Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, a diplomat in the Clinton Administration, accused the White House of being responsible for the leak.