Report No. 93

4.10. Shawcross's view.-

The position was aptly put by Lord Shawcross, who later became Chairman of the Press Council, in his evidence before the Salmon Committee:1

"My experience is that a journalist is very rarely asked to disclose a source unless it is absolutely necessary. If that is the view of the judge, or of an inquiry tribunal, I think the source ought to be disclosed, and that the public interest in knowing the source must prevail."

1. Lord Shawcross Evidence before the Salmon Committee; Anthony Richards Law for Journalists, (1972), pp. 80-83.