Blog
Hartford Courant — Protection for journalists
- By: ASNE staff
- On: 08/07/2007 12:54:09
- In: Shield law editorials
Hartford (Conn.) Courant
Aug. 7, 2007
Most states, including Connecticut, have recognized the public interest in enacting shield laws to protect the confidential relationship between journalists and their sources. Such alliances are the lubricant that keeps the information pip
Hartford (Conn.) Courant
Aug. 7, 2007
Most states, including Connecticut, have recognized the public interest in enacting shield laws to protect the confidential relationship between journalists and their sources. Such alliances are the lubricant that keeps the information pipeline free-flowing. But source protection needs to be guaranteed on the federal level if groundbreaking stories are to continue to be published.
According to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, more than 40 reporters have been subpoenaed or questioned about their confidential sources, their notes or their work product over the last few years in federal courts.
No longer is a journalist's cooperation enlisted as a last resort, but often as the first step in an investigation.
This trend is dangerous to the profession and to the public's right to know. If a reporter can't promise to shield a source's identity, valuable information will be suppressed.
Watergate. Abu Ghraib. The baseball steroid scandal. The deplorable conditions at Walter Reed Army Hospital. These high-profile exposes were made possible because of journalists' most valuable asset, trust.
A fair federal shield law initiated by U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, among others, is in the congressional pipeline. Like other shield laws, it does not give blanket immunity to reporters, but sets reasonable guidelines for when reporters can be compelled to reveal sources, including an overriding public interest in the information.
There's an overriding public interest in passing this law.