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Editorial: Press and public need a federal shield law

Media reform should start with protection for journalists.

Last update: June 5, 2008 - 7:06 PM

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NATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR MEDIA REFORM

Where: Minneapolis Convention Center

When: June 6-8, 2008

Who: Nearly 3,000 activists, journalists, policymakers, scholars and concerned citizens from across the country

For more information: Go to www.startribune.com/a4456

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Citizens concerned about the state of the news media begin meeting today in Minneapolis, where the 2008 National Conference for Media Reform proposes to diagnose a number of critical conditions that are changing -- and challenging -- the media business.

Topics on the agenda include media consolidation, rapidly evolving media-consumption patterns and the erosion of traditional business models. It will be difficult to get consensus on cures for what ails the news media, but there is one issue conference participants -- and the country -- can rally around: the need for a national shield law. Dubbed the Free Flow of Information Act, it would create a qualified privilege to protect reporters from being forced to testify and reveal confidential sources, unless clear criteria are met.

In the most celebrated recent case, then-New York Times reporter Judith Miller spent months behind bars after refusing to identify a confidential source in the case of former CIA agent Valerie Plame. Recently the federal intimidation hasn't been incarceration, but bankruptcy. Former USA Today reporter Toni Locy, who reported on the FBI investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks, faced a contempt citation that could have forced her to pay daily fines of up to $5,000 -- out of her own pocket -- unless she revealed her sources.

These cases can create a chilling effect not just in America, but worldwide, as regimes can look to the United States -- long held as the global standard of press freedom -- to justify crackdowns in their own countries.

In Washington, shield-law efforts have been stalled, most recently because of strong opposition from the Bush administration, which has cited national security concerns. There is hope, though: Both John McCain and Barack Obama have signaled support for the law, which passed by a 398-21 vote in the House and is working its way to the full Senate after approval by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The shield law would provide reporters with only modest protection from a legal system that increasingly doles out contempt citations and fines. News organizations should limit the use of confidential sources to those instances when important information cannot be obtained any other way. A federal shield law shouldn't be a green light for news organizations to weaken their policies on the use of confidential sources.

This weekend's conference will highlight the diversity of today's journalism landscape, with bloggers and citizen journalists taking on increasingly important roles. Determining who's actually practicing journalism -- and who should receive protection -- is one of the ongoing and important debates about the final shape of the law.

The overdue protection offered by the Free Flow of Information Act would help the press and, most importantly, protect the public's right to know. Vigorous and responsible journalists remain society's best watchdogs. The shield law would give them the basic protection they need to do their jobs.

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