Winston-Salem Journal — Shield Law Needed

• By: ASNE staff
• On: 08/01/2008 10:38:59
• In: Shield law editorials

Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal
July 25, 2008

The U.S. Senate ought to follow the House and pass a federal shield law. Then President Bush should sign it into law, finally realizing that protecting the free flow of information to the press protects that flow to us all.

The law would help reporters protect the identity of their confidential sources. These sources, who are often whistleblowers, have helped lead to crucial reform, as has been seen in stories ranging from exposing the conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center to the Enron scandal.

But too often, the government has wrongly punished reporters for not revealing their anonymous sources. More than 40 reporters have been in danger over the last four years of being held in contempt for protecting these sources, according to a recent letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid from numerous news organizations. Two reporters were sentenced to jail or home confinement, and one reporter faced fines of up $5,000 a day if she wouldn't reveal her sources.

Much more judicial abuse like that, and it will be even harder to find the insiders who blow the whistles on the myriad wrongs within our government and the rest of society. That's chilling and ironic in a country that goes around the world touting the wonders of democracy including the importance of a free press.

In North Carolina and several other states, shield laws protect reporters from being compelled to reveal sources. They are limited in most of the states, including ours, but they are effective in barring abuses by prosecutors.

And without such laws, there is abuse. Police and prosecutors often say they want reporters to reveal their confidential sources to help law-enforcement investigations. But in most cases, a prosecutor with subpoena power or a law-enforcement officer with a badge should be able to get information just fine. Sometimes, especially in recent federal cases, it's seemed that the government's interest is more in squelching whistleblowers and intimidating the free press than in cracking cases.

A federal shield law is needed. Many members of Congress on both sides of the aisle including presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama realize that. As the letter to Reid points out, this is not a free pass for the press, but “a qualified privilege” with exceptions that include providing confidential source information to prevent acts of terrorism.

The House passed its version of the Free Flow of Information Act last year. The Senate should now follow suit.

Bush has said he will veto a shield law if it comes to his desk. He should change that position.

He should realize that this law can help make our government more transparent, and expose wrongdoing that people of all political stripes are quick to hide from the press and the public.