Question for Pikkrong......

[Big Si]

Spitting bartender shocks Estonia

TALLINN (Reuters) - The boasts of a spitting bartender have reverberated through image-conscious Estonia, prompting the capital's mayor to fret about the reputation of the ex-Soviet republic and police to seek out the offender.


The newspaper Eesti Paevaleht quoted the bartender identified only as "Juri" in a recent article on tipping as saying he had once spat in the food of a rude customer before whacking a big surcharge on the bill.


Tallinn's mayor Edgar Savisaar was stunned, saying the bartender's tale could harm the city's booming tourism industry and scare off foreign investors.


Police called the article's author Sergo Selder in for questioning and demanded he break his journalistic code of ethics by revealing the name of his source.


Selder refused, and said police had not allowed him to make any phone calls, and had threatened to throw him into a cell for 48 hours, confiscate his press accreditation and charge him.


"The investigator did not seem interested in my argument that the code of ethics for journalists provides protection of the identity of sources -- he only exerted pressure on me to make me name my source," he told Reuters on Monday.


The issue has since escalated into a full-blown debate about democracy, press freedom and police bullying, rocking the Baltic nation and EU newcomer of 1.2 million people.


A police spokeswoman said the investigator who questioned Selder may face disciplinary action following a probe. But she added that Selder would be subject to further investigation as protection of sources was an ethical regulation, not a law.

[pikkrong]

Where's the question?

[Big Si]

Where's the question?

It's rhetorical!

[pikkrong]

Well, my confession - I wasn't that bartender
I'm not a bartender at all.
But I believe there are bastards among them.
And among rich customers (I'm not a rich man too).
And among policemen.
And, no doubt, many journos are annoying morons.
About our beloved Tallinn's mayor - he's a paranoiac. There are many disgusting creatures among our politicians but not all of them are paranoiacs. But he is. And a bastard.

[Black Planet]

One of the creators of Kazaa is from Estonia! So Estonians can't be all bad, I'd say some are pretty damn cool!!!

[andymackem]

Ah, the old protection of sources chestnut.

Funnily enough, I've never had to rely on that so far in my career but it is always a good way of making people nervous about journalism.

The argument is that people won't give useful information to journalists if their identity might be compromised. That's quite understandable in certain areas - imagine how you might try to put information on things like organised crime or terrorism, or in different circumstances corporate or government corruption into the public domain if you knew you would be identified.

Therefore there is a clear public interest in respecting source confidentiality.

But ... it becomes very easy to hide behind it if you need to inflate a story. Working as a sports reporter I always enjoy seeing a story where "sources close to Old Trafford / Highbury etc" are quoted. I have several sources close to Upton Park when I need a West Ham reaction - most of them drink in the Boleyn Arms next to the ground. It's close ...

This one smells fishy to me: the journalist has published an urban myth in a bid to fill some space and probably doesn't have anything to back it up. Not sure how Estonian media law works ... in the UK it would be difficult to get sued for that because you don't really identify anyone clearly enough, but I wouldn't like to be a restaurant reviewer in Tallinn at the moment!

As for our reporter - was the story worth the aggro? I doubt it. Bad choice.