The Silent Four

Their final appeal denied by the California Supreme Court, four Fresno Bee newsmen last week became the largest group of U.S. journalists to be jailed for a single story. The Fresno four--Managing Editor George F. Gruner, former City Editor James H. Bort Jr., and Reporters William K. Patterson and Joe Rosato--will not be released until they tell how they obtained secret grand jury testimony quoted in a 1975 story about local corruption, or until a judge becomes convinced they cannot be forced to talk. Before the four entered a county prison farm at Caruthers late last week, they vowed never to betray their sources. Said Editor Gruner: "We are defending one of our basic freedoms."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.