Media groups present petition supporting reporter

Chuck Todd, political director at NBC News, takes part in the NBC News Decision '08 panel at the NBC Universal summer press tour in Beverly Hills, California July 21, 2008. (Reuters)

Organizations that advocate for news media have presented the Justice Department with a petition in support of New York Times reporter James Risen.

Organizers say the petition has 100,000 signers and calls on the department to drop its efforts to force Risen to testify at the trial of a former CIA officer who is accused of leaking classified information.

Justice Department spokesman Brian Fallon said the department was "considering the next steps in this case."

Attorney General Eric Holder has said no journalists will be sent to prison for doing their jobs for as long he oversees the Justice Department. But the department has also not moved to withdraw its subpoena seeking to compel Risen's testimony about his sources in the trial of Jeffrey Sterling.