Protect journalists, protect the people

As Thomas Jefferson once said, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter."


Government involvement in the reporting of news should be limited, and that's why enacting a federal shield law for journalists is so critical.

 A federal shield law would not only protect journalists, but their sources who may need to remain anonymous for their safety and the safety of their families.

On the state level, journalists are already protected in 49 states, including the District of Columbia.

Wyoming is the only state that lacks legislative protection for reporters.

State shield laws give journalists and their sources protections similar to those in "doctor/patient" or "lawyer/client" relationships.

The problem is that state shield laws apply only to local and state cases, not on the federal level, where abuses of power may be far greater.

With no federal protection, the government may sometimes interfere with journalists and their work on federal cases.

In 2009, more than 30 journalists were subpoenaed, and of those 30, four were imprisoned for 19 months or more by U.S. attorneys and special prosecutors.

In 2006, 761 news organizations reported receiving over 3,000 subpoenas.

But steps towards enacting a federal shield law are underway.


On March 31, 2009, the House of Representatives passed HR Bill 985, "Free Flow of Information Act of 2009."


The Senate is considering a version of that proposal, S 448 also titled the "Free Flow of Information Act of 2009."


This bill "prohibits a federal entity from compelling a covered person to testify or produce any document relating to protected information unless a court makes specified determinations by a preponderance of the evidence."

In past legislative debates, the question of who is defined as a journalist was not clearly addressed.

In this case, a "covered person" is anyone that "regularly gathers, prepares, collects, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports or publishes news and information that concerns local, national and international events or matters of public interest."


The bill does list some exceptions where journalists would be required to turn over their information and sources to the Court.

These exceptions apply when the information relates to alleged criminal or tortuous activity, can prevent death, kidnapping, or substantial bodily injury can prevent terrorist activity or any harm to our national security.


Those opposed to a federal shield law argue that it would give journalists too much freedom.


However, the First Amendment of The Constitution guarantees Freedom of the Press.


The possibility that the government can compel journalists to reveal their sources and act as "arms of law enforcement" undermines free press and free speech.

Some of the top media organizations use anonymous sources regularly.
Without them, major news stories that affect the American public would likely go unreported.

The Wall Street Journal had 1,348 examples in their articles to suggest they use anonymous sources.

The Associated Press had 502 examples, New York Times had 463 and the Los Angeles Times had 171.


And the use of anonymous sources has helped journalists uncover the Watergate Scandal and the Pentagon Papers.

Jailing of journalists has an effect not only on the media and its news organizations, but also on the public.


Journalists have a much harder time relying on confidential sources, and the sources have a harder time talking to the reporter, in fear of being questioned by the government.

When the news media cannot report freely on matters of interest to the public, we have uniformed citizens, which makes it that much easier for the government to control what can be said and what cannot.

We need to keep the Freedom of the Press alive and support the protection of journalists to limit government involvement in the media.

Enacting a federal shield law will help keep the public informed about important issues affecting our nation, and that's ultimately what journalism is all about.