Law Commons^™

Promises Of Confidentiality To News Sources After Cohen V. Cowles Media Company: A Survey Of Newspaper Editors, Daniel Levin, Ellen Rubert

Golden Gate University Law Review

We undertook a survey of newspaper editors to determine their views regarding promises of confidentiality, to determine the effect of the Cohen case on the newspaper industry, and to discover related information. This article will discuss the Cohen case and report the survey results. Section II of the article sets forth the facts that led to the lawsuit brought by source Dan Cohen against two Minneapolis newspapers for breach of promise of confidentiality. Section III sets forth the history of the lawsuit itself, as it proceeded through the Minnesota state courts to the United States Supreme Court, reaching a final …