When a Journalist must Tell

Abstract

Before he appeared in the witness box to give evidence against a former source for having committed a brutal murder, Northern Ireland specialist Martin-Clark had an agonising decision to make. When he had gone to see the accused in prison, the writer had been sworn to silence before the killer confessed. "It would have been easier to keep his secret," writes Martin-Clark, as [subsequently] my life has been disrupted, we have had to move house and I am now on a witness protection programme for the rest of my life." Martin-Clark chose to betray the killer's confidence and here poses the question: when is a journalist's duty to tell?