Reporter Who Broke Brett Favre Welfare Scandal Could Face Jail Time for Not Giving Up Confidential Sources: Report
Michael Owens/AP
The reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize for exposing the Mississippi welfare scandal involving Brett Favre could reportedly be facing jail time for not revealing her sources.
Mississippi Today reporter Anna Wolfe was named in a lawsuit from former Gov. Phil Bryant (R). Bryant alleges that the outlet’s reporting was driven by bias toward him. For Wolfe and her colleagues to prove there was no bias, Billy Quin — Bryant’s lawyer — demands that they hand over notes, sources, and internal emails.
What initially inspired the lawsuit, however, wasn’t even Wolfe’s reporting. As mentioned in an ESPN report, Mississippi Today CEO Margaret White said at a conference that her outlet had recently exposed how the poorest people in the state were being “embezzled by a former governor.” Wolfe’s reporting did not suggest Bryant was guilty of embezzlement.
That prompted Quin to send a letter demanding a retraction and an apology from White. The CEO later posted the apology on their website.
The apology didn’t appear to be enough for Bryant and a lawsuit was filed shortly after.
Wolfe has maintained that her reporting was accurate and unbiased. She, along with her boss Adam Ganucheau, have refused to reveal their sources.
“That’s why this whole thing is so incredibly frustrating,” Wolfe told ESPN. “I am getting punished for something that I had no control over. I think most people can see that. I can’t even start to describe what a travesty that is. That sucks, because it wasn’t the reporting.”
In her apology, White praised Wolfe’s reporting as “airtight.” Still, Quin believes he has every right to know her sources.
“I hope the implication is that if you’re a reporter and you lie about somebody, you better be ready to defend your lies,” Quin said. “And if you cannot, you should understand that there are consequences that go with that. You’re not immune to the law. You’re not.”
Although Ganucheau said he’d sooner serve jail time than make one of his reporters reveal their sources, a more likely outcome would be sanctions or fines.
