Top court turns down appeal against keeping news source secret

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal filed by a U.S. health food maker against a lower court decision allowing a reporter to keep a news source secret over a 1997 report that the firm's Japan unit underreported income to save tax payments.

The appeal was filed after the Tokyo High Court in March accepted refusal of the reporter for Japan Broadcasting Corp (NHK) to reveal the news source, saying news-gathering activities serve as a foundation for the freedom of the press that satisfies the public's right to know. NHK, along with other Japanese media, reported in October 1997 that Japanese and U.S. tax authorities found that the U.S. firm's Japanese subsidiary had underreported about 7.7 billion yen in taxable income.