L.A. paper orders writers to disclose story sources

The president of the Los Angeles Daily News says he ordered two reporters to reveal confidential sources because the economic health of the newspaper outweighed the right of confidentiality.

Superior Court Judge Sara Radin issued a default judgment Dec. 17 in the $60 million libel suit by former Iranian hostage Jerry Plotkin against two reporters , the Daily News, and its owner, the Tribune Company of Chicago. The amount of the award must still be decided. The judgment was issued because the reporters refused to reveal confidential sources used in a story linking Mr. Plotkin, the only private citizen held by the Iranians, with drug trafficking.