New York Times reporter Judith Miller has spent two weeks in
jail
– and counting – for refusing to identify a source for a story
she didn’t even write.
New York Times reporter Judith Miller has spent two weeks in jail – and counting – for refusing to identify a source for a story she didn’t even write.
Rhode Island reporter Jim Taricani was sentenced to six months of home confinement in December for refusing to divulge who provided him with a FBI surveillance tape of a city official taking a bribe.
Prosecutors demanded that five Bay Area newspaper reporters reveal confidential sources for stories about the baseball steroids scandal.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer is holding two stories it says are important for readers to know about because it doesn’t want to risk having to reveal confidential sources.
These are just a few recent real-life examples of why we need a national shield law for journalists.
Although journalists have gone to jail to protect sources for years, the controversy surrounding the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame’s name to the press has catapulted the issue to the national spotlight.
Currently, 31 states have shield laws in place, and court rulings in 18 other states provide some protection to journalists. Details vary from state to state, but most provide that journalists’ confidential material is protected unless the person seeking the information proves a critical need for the information, which must be found to be extremely relevant and cannot be obtained in any other way, according to the First Amendment Center.
These protections do not apply at the federal level, however, and difficulties arise when story sources or reporters cross state lines. Journalists and supporters of a free press are not asking for unprecedented privileges. Information obtained by doctors, lawyers, and members of the clergy, for example, as well as information shared between spouses, is protected in some circumstances.
Rep. Mike Spence (R-Ind.) sponsors H.R. 581, and its twin, S. 340, is sponsored by Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) in the Senate. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) is the sponsor of another shield law bill (S. 369) in the Senate.
The threat of jail and expensive and protracted court battles has a chilling effect on the news media. Every day, Americans count on a vigorous press to tell us important stories. Sometimes those stories threaten those in power, expose wrongdoing, or embarrass people. But as Dodd has said, “When the public’s right to know is threatened, and when the rights of free speech and free press are at risk, all of the other liberties we hold dear are endangered.”
Write your federal representatives and urge them to support a federal shield law for journalists. A free press is a critical check on the enormous power of government. Important stories will go untold without confidential sources, and it’s important that the balance of power not be tipped any more toward those who already hold so much.
