An association representing newspapers and online media outlets said it was "deeply troubled" by recent comments by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions that the Department of Justice was reviewing policies about issuing subpoenas for journalists.

Sessions said Friday that his agency was reviewing media subpoenas as a way to track down Trump administration staffers who are leaking confidential information to journalists. He also said freedom of press was "not unlimited" and that journalists "cannot place lives at risk with impunity" by publishing leaked information.

In a statement issued the same day, the News Media Alliance said it was troubled by Sessions' remarks "as they are an attempt to chill communications between the press and government officials."

"The freedom of the press is a First Amendment principle and a cornerstone of our democracy," NMA CEO David Chavern said. "In order for our government to function properly, there needs to be accountability."

Investigative stories rely on the ability to protect sources and freely report on the federal government without fear of retribution, the association added. http://bit.ly/2vAQXgS

The government has used legal pressure in the past to try to pressure journalists into revealing their sources. Former New York Times reporter Judith Miller spent three months in jail in 2005 for refusing to tell a federal grand jury who leaked to her the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

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