TimesDaily — Federal shield law

• By: ASNE staff
• On: 03/18/2008 11:02:30
• In: Shield law editorials

TimesDaily, Florence, Ala.
March 13, 2008

THE ISSUE

Fines levied against a former USA Today reporter for refusing to reveal anonymous sources used in her reporting on the 2001 anthrax case emphasizes the need for a federal shield law for journalists.

Former USA Today and Associated Press reporter Toni Locy has become the latest example of why a federal shield law is needed in this country. A bill was introduced in Congress more than two years ago to create a shield, but it has languished as the nation's news gathering organizations face more hostile treatment from federal prosecutors and judges.

Locy, currently a professor at West Virginia University, was writing for USA Today in 2001 when she cited unnamed federal sources in stories about anthrax attacks that killed five people and sickened 17 others in the weeks after 9/11. She used the sources to identify former Army scientist Steven J. Hatfill as a "person of interest" in the U.S. Department of Justice investigation. Hatfill has denied involvement in the attacks and sued the government for violating his privacy by discussing the investigation with journalists. To date, no one has been charged in connection with the attacks.

Locy was subpoenaed in the federal case and has refused to divulge her unnamed sources. A federal judge found her in contempt and ordered her to pay $5,000 a day in fines while the case is on appeal. Fortunately, a federal appeals court on Tuesday blocked the fines.

It's time for Congress to pass the Free Flow of Information Act to provide journalists subpoenaed in federal cases the same protection they have in most states, including Alabama. The act would provide a "shield" for journalists that would require federal agencies to exhaust all other sources of obtaining information in a specific matter before subpoenaing journalists. The Department of Justice has used a set of guidelines for more than 30 years that are similar to what the act contains.

Advocates of the shield law say placing journalists under the threat of being jailed and fined for refusing to reveal anonymous sources - advocates such as Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., the co-sponsor of the shield law - cripples the ability to report information, including government corruption. The most widely known example of the use of anonymous is the Washington Post's Watergate coverage during the Nixon administration.

Thirty-one states have adopted shield laws for journalists, but they only cover state laws. That protection should be extended at the national level for journalists reporting on federal matters. Without it, the public's right to know what the government is doing is severely hampered.