Branzburg v. Hayes, the split U.S. Supreme Court decision (1972) generally construed by journalists and judges alike as affirming some sort of reporter's privilege in federal courts.
U.S. Appellate Judge Richard Posner's influential opinion in
McKevitt v. Pallasch (2003) telling those journalists and judges they were wrong -- there is no such privilege.
John Milton's
Areopagitica (1643), one of the earliest and most eloquent arguments for a free press. Said Milton: "As good almost kill a man as kill a good book; who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were in the eye."
"What does it all mean now, in real terms?" Perhaps it is a message from God that you should not take up caddying full time rather than working a real job.
JBP
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/2...
though it'll probably merit his scorn anyway--wrong ideology, i guess
Judging by the review of his book, this essay seems to be one in a series.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2SGHY85GQE0CQ/ref=cm...
Given that fact, I have to question whether the "High and Mighty ruler of the London Stock Exchange" may be a novelist's tool.
Snyder has got himself into a fix by a career choice, and he asks for pity, while he sneers at everyone who has not made his choices. The world needs ditchdiggers too, Snyder, buck it up, and pick up a shovel.
JBP