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Washington Post — Protecting Sources
- By: ASNE staff
- On: 10/01/2007 16:20:09
- In: Shield law editorials
Preserving the free flow of information
The Washington Post
Sept. 21, 2007
NEXT WEEK, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to take up the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007, sponsored by Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). Thi
Preserving the free flow of information
The Washington Post
Sept. 21, 2007
NEXT WEEK, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to take up the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007, sponsored by Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). This finally would bring to the federal government something that exists in 49 states and the District of Columbia: clear protection for the relationship between journalists and their sources.
Sometimes people who speak to journalists don't want it publicly revealed that they were the source of information that exposed ethically sketchy behavior or criminality; one common reason is a fear of reprisals. The relationship between reporters and confidential sources is rooted in trust, and the accountability it fosters is a foundation of a thriving democracy.
As with a bill approved last month by the House Judiciary Committee, the Senate measure does not give to reporters a blanket protection against disclosure of sources but instead offers a reasonable balancing of competing interests. Information identifying sources who were promised confidentiality would be covered by the new law. But courts would still be able to compel disclosure in certain circumstances -- for example, if national security interests at stake in the case outweighed "the public interest in gathering news and maintaining the free flow of information." The Washington Post Co. and other media organizations that have lobbied for a bill might want more protection, but this represents a reasonable compromise that many legislators, including Sens. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) and Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), have labored to get right.
More than 40 reporters have been questioned in recent years by federal prosecutors about their sources, notes and reports in civil and criminal cases. No doubt those who would talk to the media confidentially have been chilled by such action. Without adequate protection on the federal level, much information that Americans have a right to know might never be known. That's not good for journalism -- and it isn't good for the republic, either.