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22 Sep 06
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(09-21) 18:15 PDT -- Chronicle reporter Mark Fainaru-Wada's statement to the court on Thursday:
Your Honor, thank you for this opportunity to address the court. My name is Mark Fainaru-Wada, and I have been a journalist for most of my adult life. I got into this business for two main reasons: First, my big brother was a journalist, and I was always tagging along in his wake whenever possible. Second, like many of my colleagues today, I had seen the movie and read the book, "All The President's Men," and it inspired me to become a reporter. Journalism seemed like an honorable, meaningful profession.
For many years, I was a sportswriter, a dream job in that I got paid to attend and write about sporting events. It's something I still miss. The kinship that I felt with other sportswriters was unique, and it continues to this day. It's like having an extended family in every major league city.
Still, I always wanted to be an investigative reporter, to go beyond the games, to find stories that weren't being written, to write stories that made people think and to question, and perhaps bring about positive change.
Over the past three years, I have had the opportunity to cover a remarkable story, one that has tested me in ways I never could have imagined. Certainly there have been many benefits - awards and accolades from my peers, an opportunity to write a book and, most rewarding, the gratification of seeing our reporting provoke change and national debate on a public health issue that resonates with millions of Americans, particularly the parents of young athletes.
But the price has been steep, too. My wife and children have been subjected to a life they never bargained for. They and my parents and my brother and the rest of my family and close friends have had to worry about whether I will go to jail. I have endured a steady stream of sometimes-vile invective from disappointed sports fans who would prefer that we not expose the harsh realities behind of their heroes' greatest achievements.
But I would change none of this. Lance and I find ourselves in this position because we were assigned to cover a story to the best of our ability. We aimed to provide our readers with important information that was being hidden from them. A fraud was being perpetrated on sports fans - with athletes using illegal performance-enhancing drugs to manufacture records and achievements that were, at best, deceitful, and, at worst, an illusion. And young athletes who emulated these sports stars were receiving an implicit message: to fulfill their dreams, they, too, would be well-served to inject and ingest these dangerous substances.
A wide range of Americans -- from the parents of young men who committed suicide after taking steroids to the President of the United States -- have told us we performed a public service.
Your honor, I have great respect for the criminal justice system and understand the concerns about maintaining the sanctity of the grand jury process. I am not above the law, and I appreciate the legal issues under consideration here. I do not wish to spend even a minute in jail. However, I cannot - and will not - betray the promises I have made over the past three years. It is not, as our chief legal counsel likes to say, in our DNA. If I were to break those promises, I would be tossing aside everything that I believe as a journalist and a person of integrity.
Sometimes, the press's watchdog role requires the judicious use of confidential sources. Some stories simply cannot - and would not - be told without people providing information under the promise of anonymity. If those stories cannot be told because reporters fear being jailed or whistleblowers fear being exposed, the public interest will be irrevocably compromised.
Throughout the BALCO affair, critics have questioned the motives of our reporting, suggesting that it has been little more than a witch hunt or an effort to profit off the big names who have been drawn into the scandal. Supporters have portrayed us as champions in the global fight against performance-enhancing drugs. For us, however, BALCO has always been an earnest and sincere effort to present the truth. As you consider the remedies in our case, I respectfully ask that you consider the impact your decision will have on honest reporting.
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