In Bad Faith: Earl Caldwell and the Fight for a Free Press

In Bad Faith is the historical thriller where a subpoena, a newsroom, and a movement collide.In 1970, New York Times national correspondent Earl Caldwell-one of the first Black reporters hired to cover America's civil-rights flashpoints-was ordered to reveal what he had learned about the Black Panther Party behind the sealed doors of a federal grand jury.Convinced that testifying would destroy the trust he'd built and silence a vital source of truth, Caldwell refused-setting off a showdown that raced from Bay Area streets to the steps of the Supreme Court.Lee Levine tells this story as it unfolded: a Black journalist with rare access; a mostly white press struggling to cover Black communities; and a government-under J.Edgar Hoover and Richard Nixon-running COINTELPRO, a sweeping campaign to infiltrate, discredit, and break the Panthers while pressuring reporters who covered them.When United States v. Caldwell reached Washington, DC, the Justices issued a 5-4 ruling against the reporter