The Winston-Salem Journal said no yesterday to a request that the Journal allow former reporter Phoebe Zerwick be interviewed by investigators for the Silk Plant Forest Citizens Review Committee.
Zerwick had earlier denied a committee request for an interview, saying she would respect the wishes of the paper. Yesterday, Guy Blynn, the committee's chairman, asked the Journal to change its stance.
Zerwick's 2004 series about the case raised questions about the conviction of Kalvin Smith in the 1995 beating of Jill Marker at the Silk Plant Forest, a store at which Marker worked. The series reported that Don Williams, the lead detective in the case, told Zerwick that he intentionally did not document some of his investigation so that Smith's defense attorney would not have access to it.
Blynn said in an e-mail to the Journal that the committee is particularly interested in asking Zerwick about that part of her interview with Williams.
Carl Crothers, the paper's executive editor, told Blynn by e-mail that the newspaper remains opposed to the request and that it stands by what Zerwick has reported.
To "allow a reporter to appear voluntarily before a government body to be questioned about her journalistic work, including her unpublished work and her notes, would set a damaging precedent," Crothers wrote. "It would make it all but impossible for us to later claim a privilege against compelled testimony in this case or any other.
"And in a larger sense, we cannot be viewed as cooperating with the government, i.e., as agents of the government," he continued. "If that were to happen, our ability to gather information from sources -- whose identities we sometimes pledge to protect -- would be severely damaged."
Blynn said that the Journal's stance is disappointing.
"This isn't compelled testimony. There's a big difference between compelled testimony and voluntary testimony," he said, "and I can't see what the dangerous precedent would be to testify voluntarily about something that's already been published."
Blynn said that it is unlikely that the panel would ask for a subpoena through the Winston-Salem City Council.
Bill Davis, a lawyer on the committee, said yesterday that the Journal's position seems inconsistent: The newspaper's editorial department (which is separate from its news department) has encouraged the committee to do a thorough job.
"Neither we nor the court nor anybody can simply accept a news article as proof of anything," Davis said.
"The paper is insisting that we investigate but won't talk to us or allow its people to talk to us."
■ Dan Galindo can be reached at 727-7377 or at dgalindo@wsjournal.com.
■ Blynn's letter and the Journal's response can be read online at www.journalnow.com.
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