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Orlando Sentinel — The free flow of information
- By: ASNE staff
- On: 08/07/2007 15:57:28
- In: Shield law editorials
Our position: U.S. House should follow lead of Keller and Feeney in supporting shield law.
Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel
Aug. 5, 2007
U.S. House Republicans Ric Keller of Orlando and Tom Feeney of Oviedo have had their share of dustups with journalists, but both h
Our position: U.S. House should follow lead of Keller and Feeney in supporting shield law.
Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel
Aug. 5, 2007
U.S. House Republicans Ric Keller of Orlando and Tom Feeney of Oviedo have had their share of dustups with journalists, but both have the good sense and historical perspective to understand how crucial a vigorous press is to a healthy democracy.
Mr. Keller and Mr. Feeney and other Judiciary Committee members endorsed a bill this past week that would protect journalists from being forced to reveal their confidential sources. While most states have such shield laws, there is no law for federal cases. In a growing number of those cases, reporters have been hauled into court and threatened with imprisonment for not naming their sources.
Insiders in the best position to blow the whistle on waste or corruption in the public or private sectors often are unwilling to come forward for fear of retribution. If they can't be sure that journalists will keep their identities under wraps, they'll clam up. Journalists won't hear their stories, and neither will the public. Government and other powerful institutions won't be truly accountable.
Under the House bill, the right of journalists to keep their sources confidential would not be absolute. Courts could make exceptions to prevent deaths, terrorist attacks or other specific threats to national security, for example.
History is full of important stories blown open by confidential sources, from Watergate to the cooked books at Enron to shameful treatment for soldiers recovering at Walter Reed. Congress needs to pass a shield law to ensure the free flow of information to the public is never choked off.