Grand Rapids Press — Federal shield law is needed

• By: ASNE staff
• On: 08/05/2008 13:51:26
• In: Shield law editorials

The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press
August 03, 2008

Aproposed law to protect whistle-blowers against exposure has been blown off in the U.S. Senate -- at least for now. The important legislation shouldn't wait for the next Congress and president. Lawmakers ought to pass it when they reconvene in September.

The federal “shield law” would guard journalists against having to testify when the government tries to force them to reveal the identity of anonymous sources. Those sources -- who risk their livelihoods and in some cases their lives to expose corruption and misconduct among the powerful -- are understandably wary about being exposed themselves.

Journalists are increasingly threatened with subpoenas, jail time, even personal bankruptcy as the price for protecting sources, who have helped uncover stories as varied as Enron's house-of-cards financing and the Walter Reed Medical Center's sordid conditions.

President Bush has objected to the shield law on the basis that it could compromise national security and hamper law enforcement. However, provision is made in the measure to address those concerns. In fact, the Senate bill was altered to further accommodate the White House.

Those are fair compromises. Journalists are citizens first. No legal privilege should permit them to, say, hide the identity of terrorists or hold back information key to nabbing criminals if prosecutors have no another route to that information.

This bill would not grant blanket exemption from cooperation with the government. Instead, it would push back against growing government intimidation and coercion aimed at journalists and media outlets. That trend is dangerous, especially when so much anonymous-source reporting is aimed at government institutions and office-holders who could use the power of their posts to chill further inquiry.

The House passed the shield bill last year by an overwhelming 398-21 margin. Every Michigan member of the House supported it.

In the Senate last week, Michigan Sens. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, and Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, voted for the shield law, too. However, a minority of senators successfully blocked the measure.

The strong bipartisan backing in Congress shows that Mr. Bush's concerns aren't shared by most lawmakers or, presumably, their constituents. Nearly every state in the country, including Michigan, has some version of a shield law. Providing one at the federal level would help protect freedom of speech, especially for whistle-blowers.