Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Editorial: Shield reporters and their sources
Sens. Webb and Warner should support a shield law that would help the public find out about federal misdeeds.
From the RoundTable blog
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Last week, Rep. Rick Boucher, the Democrat who represents most of Southwest Virginia, received accolades. The Newspaper Association of America presented its Sunshine in Government Award to him and to Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., for their sponsorship of the Free Flow of Information Act.
Virginia's senators should lend their bipartisan support next. The act would protect journalists and their anonymous sources from overzealous prosecutors and judges.
This sort of protection is commonly called a "shield law." It creates a privileged relationship between journalists and their sources akin to those between doctors and their patients or lawyers and their clients. The courts could not compel a reporter who receives information from a confidential source to divulge the identity of that source under most circumstances.
Most states, but not Virginia, have such laws, but they do not apply to federal investigations.
Journalists prefer things on the record, but good reporting doesn't always work that way. Some sources have sensitive information that they could get in trouble for releasing. Think the Pentagon Papers, Watergate and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. None of those stories would have broken without courageous sources and reporters willing to protect them.
In recent years, however, some journalists who have stood up for their sources have been imprisoned and fined. In that environment, potential sources understandably shy away from keeping the public in the loop.
Lawmakers of all political stripes agree that isn't healthy for the nation. The shield law passed the House 398-21 in October. If it becomes law, reporters and their sources would be safe from overzealous prosecutors, but there would be exceptions in cases of national security and imminent threats.
The Senate has not acted on the shield law. Part of the reason is that the Bush administration opposes protecting those who reveal executive misdeeds and has threatened a veto. That means 67 senators must support the bill or it is doomed.
That's why support from Virginia's senators is crucial. Sen. James Webb's backing could help motivate Democratic leaders to hold a floor vote. Sen. John Warner's position as elder statesman and national security expert could blunt the Bush administration's preference for secrecy and bring other Republicans on board.
The Founding Fathers recognized the importance of an independent press when they wrote the First Amendment. Today's leaders can reinforce that vision by passing the Free Flow of Information Act.
