Opinion: Reporter's shield law needs to be extended to the federal level: 'The PRESS Act is needed now.'

Shield law protections by state (Graph by the Reporters Committee
for Freedom of the Press)

The New York Times editorial board offers a compelling piece on the importance of a reporter's shield law and why its protections need to be extended to the federal level. "Safeguarding the anonymity of reporters’ sources is essential . . . . It has been recognized by governments or courts in 49 states and the District of Columbia as a form of protection for journalists and news outlets against unfair or overbearing efforts by the government to ferret out their sources. . . There is nothing of the sort, however, on the federal level, where the need is arguably greatest."

A bipartisan bill representing those federal protections, known as the Protect Reporters From Exploitative State Spying Act, or PRESS Act, has already moved through the House of Representatives and is awaiting release by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The editorial board writes, "It would shield reporters from court-ordered disclosure of their sources of information, except in the rare cases in which disclosure is necessary to prevent an act of terrorism or imminent violence."

Freedom of speech and whistle-blowing protection remain essential parts of a healthy democracy. The editorial board adds, "Leaks and whistle-blowers have often proved essential to the public’s understanding of major events and the workings of government at all levels. There is nothing ideological about their usefulness; they can be just as effective in exposing the unwelcome truth about Democratic administrations as Republican ones. By protecting reporters from having to reveal their sources, the bill would ideally encourage more whistle-blowers to help shine a light on government abuses."

Some members of the House having been "targets of sharp investigative reporting or frequent critics of the news media," the editorial board adds. Still, every member has "supported swift passage of the PRESS bill. . . Nothing in the PRESS Act would prevent the government from prosecuting leakers, and the government has vast powers to monitor its officials without demanding that reporters divulge the information they seek. . . . The PRESS Act is needed now."

Sessions about covering veterans among broad, deep agenda at SPJ conference in St. Louis April 27

More than 2 million American troops have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since the start of U.S. military operations in the region in 2001, and a disproportionate share of them came from rural communities. The troops' return has created a new kind of reporting challenge for journalists: battle-scarred veterans trying to re-enter civil society. Many have trouble finding jobs, housing and health care for themselves and their families, and often find find that government cannot meet those needs. A nationwide effort is underway to persuade private agencies and businesses to fill the gap.

Two sessions at next weekend's regional Society of Professional Journalists regional conference in St. Louis will examine the issues and how journalists can cover them. Col. David Sutherland with the Center for Military and Veterans Community Services, and Erica J. Borggren of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, will lead the discussions.

The conference also includes sessions on the secrets of great journalism, social media in journalism (three sessions), using Twitter to cover politics, news-media ethics, an overview of laws governing journalism, digital teamwork for online and broadcast journalists, a University of Missouri experiment testing the use of drone aircraft in journalism, and an Investigative Reporters and Editors session on doing investigative journalism on a tight schedule and a meager budget.

The conference, at the Drury Plaza at the Arch hotel, begins with an informal meet-and-greet Friday, April 26 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. The training sessions will be held Saturday. Questions about the sessions can be addressed to SPJ Region 7 Director David Sheets at dksheetsSPJ@gmail.com or send them via Twitter to @DKSheets. The conference website is www.spjinstl2013.com/#!sessions/c10fk.

West Virginia enacts first statute for reporter's privilege; Arkansas expands its law to TV, online

A pair of states have strengthened the privilege afforded to journalists for protecting confidential sources. This week West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed the state's shield bill into law, making West Virginia the 40th state to provide statutory protection for subpoenaed reporters. Nine other states have protection in case law, as West Virginia already did. Only Wyoming lacks the protection.

"The measure provides journalists with a nearly absolute reporter’s privilege to refuse to disclose the identity of confidential sources, and documents or other information that could identify confidential sources, in civil, criminal, administrative and grand jury proceedings," Kristen Rasmussen of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press writes. Disclosure of that information can be compelled only if it is "necessary to prevent imminent death, serious bodily injury or unjust incarceration." West Virginia's law defines a reporter as "someone who gathers and disseminates news to the public for a portion of the person’s livelihood, suggesting that freelance journalists would be protected, while unpaid bloggers would not." Presumably, though, bloggers who makle money from advertising would be covered. The law specifically covers unpaid student journalists. (Read more)

Arkansas first passed its shield law in 1937, when television was still pretty much in the laboratory. Last month, state lawmakers amended the law to protect TV and online reporters. The bill was approved unanimously in the House and the Senate, and the law will go into effect 90 days after the legislature officially adjourns. Michael Tilley, co-owner and editor of The City Wire, an online publication, contacted a state senator to consider amending the law. He told Kacey Dreamer of the Reporters Committee that after consulting with lawyers and legislators they decided "It never hurts to take the gray area out of the law." (Read more)

Journalism group urges Senate to move ahead with shield law

The U.S. Senate's delay of a federal shield law is hurting the American public, says the Society of Professional Journalists. Delays in passing S. 448, the Free Flow of Information Act, "continue to place U.S. journalists at risk of heavy civil fines and imprisonment," SPJ writes in a news release. "That leads to reluctance to investigate stories and ultimately is a disservice to the American public and an open, democratic society." The bill would prohibit the enforcement of federal subpoenas against reporters who refuse to identify their confidential sources in certain circumstances.

"We are rapidly closing in on the end of this congressional session, and we remind the senators that U.S. journalists have an expectation that this bill will be resolved," SPJ President Kevin Z. Smith said in the release. "After years of advocacy for this bill, we are close to a resolution, and we have hammered out what should be the last points of contention. We strongly encourage senators to allow a vote." He continued, "Delaying or killing this bill isn’t just a blow to journalists covering the federal government; it’s a blow to the American people who will see fewer stories about their government. Unprotected sources don’t generally share information with the media. Killing this bill is a win for secrecy in government." (Read more)

Kansas reporter gets temporary reprieve from order directing her to testify, reveal sources

UPDATE 1/22: Despite the court's Tuesday ruling, O'Brien was subpoenaed on Wednesday by Malone as a potential witness in the murder trial. "This subpoena is basically a blatant attempt by the county attorney and the judge to do an end run-around the Supreme Court's stay," O'Brien told the Associated Press. Malone said the subpoena was normal for any potential witness in a trial and had nothing to do with the temporary stay. (Read more)

Yesterday, the Kansas State Supreme Court granted a Dodge City Globe reporter's request to temporarily stay an order requiring her to reveal a confidential source to Ford County prosecutors. Clair O'Brien was scheduled to appear today before an inquisition at which prosecutors would force her to source's identity and content of unpublished notes regarding her interview with Samuel Bonilla, who is charged with second-degree murder in a Labor Day shooting death, The Associated Press reports.

"The newspaper has challenged the subpoena on the grounds that forcing O'Brien to testify would violate her First Amendment rights and hurt her ability to gather news," AP reports. O'Brien maintains she has already told Ford County Attorney Terry Malone what Bonilla told her during the jailhouse interview, when she called the prosecutor for comment. Malone also wants O'Brien to reveal confidential sources who said "one of the victims had 'a base of support that is well-known for its anti-Hispanic beliefs' and has a supply of semiautomatic weapons," AP reports.

O'Brien told AP, "It is not so much about whether I win, but whether the government is allowed to have so much influence on the ability of the press to report without fear or intimidation." (Read more)

Panel rejects narrow definition of 'journalist,' sends federal shield law bill to full Senate

A shield law made it out of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee today, perhaps removing the major obstacle to putting protection for reporters' confidential sources into the federal statute books. The committee rejected amendments, strongly opposed by journalism groups, that would have sunset the bill in 2013 and made it apply only to a "salaried employee" or "independent contractor" of a news organization.

UPDATE, Dec. 11: The latter amendment was sponsored by Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Dianne Feinstein of California. After it was defeated, Durbin voted against the bill. Because Durbin is the Senate majority whip, he could block consideration of the bill by the full Senate. Durbin has agreed to stop pushing a provision in the amendment that would deny the shield to anonymous or pseudonymous posters, but says he wants to clarify that the shield applies only to news outlets, a term that may have to be further defined to get the bill before the Senate.

The bill defines journalists broadly, "including bloggers, citizen journalists and freelancers — and relies on court tests to determine whether sources deserve protection," The Associated Press notes. "The journalist is defined by the nature of activity engaged in, rather than by the organization that employs the reporter. . . . The bill does not give journalists absolute authority to protect sources. Those rights can be overridden in national security cases. ... A federal judge would weigh the public's right to know versus national security claims made by the government."

The bill "has been pushed by journalistic organizations for at least two decades," reports John Eggerton of Multichannel News. "It was held up by the Obama administration until a compromise was struck on some national security issues, and then by Republicans, who thought the balance was still too far in favor of journalists and argued the compromise had been between people who already supported the bill, not Republicans with remaining issues." (Read more)

The bill was approved 14-5. It now goes to the full Senate. The House has passed a different version but supporters are likely to ask the House to accept the Senate version, which contains language agreed on by the Justice Department, intelligence agencies and the bill's supporters.

Every state but Wyoming has some sort of source protection, or reporter's privilege, in statute or case law. For more from the Society of Professional Journalists, click here. For background on reporters' privilege from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, click here.

Deputy poses as big-time reporter, gets small-town scribe to give number of source, who is arrested

"A sheriff's deputy in North Carolina posed as a Newsweek reporter to coax an anonymous source out of a local newspaper journalist. And it worked," reports Kathleen Cullinan of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Thinking he was simply helping a fellow reporter from a larger news organization, a common favor performed by rural journalists, reporter Lindell Kay of The Daily News in Jacksonville gave the deputy the source's telephone number. Before doing that, Kay "called a source and told him about the request," the newspaper reported. "With the source's permission, Kay provided a phone number to the man he thought was a Newsweek reporter." Daily News Publisher Elliott Potter said Kay did not provide the source's name or any other identifying information.

The "favor" led to the arrest of Robert Sharpe, an intern for the district attorney's office, who is charged with embezzlement and larceny, "accused of offering to sell the undercover deputy confidential records from a 6,000-page file he'd been told to photocopy in the case of Cpl. Cesar Laurean. Laurean was tracked down to Mexico earlier this year and is charged with killing a pregnant Marine whose burned remains were found in North Carolina," Cullinan writes. "Sharpe has now identified himself to the media as a confidential source for The Daily News." (Read more)

Sharpe told Laura Vesco of WNCT, “I’m very disappointed with the Jacksonville Daily News. I’m supposed to be a confidential source. They screwed me over and offered no help or assistance afterwards. I put my trust in this organization.” The Onslow County Sheriff's Department "later asked Kay to reveal information about his sources, and he refused, citing North Carolina's 'shield law,' which gives news reporters the right to refuse to testify about news sources," Jennifer Hlad writes for The Daily News. The 19,700-circulation paper is one of six North Carolina dailies owned by Freedom Communications.