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Why Are Shield Laws Important?

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Shield laws are “Statutes affording a privilege to journalists not to disclose in legal proceedings confidential information or sources of information obtained in their professional capacities.” While there is no federal shield law, 49 states and the District of Columbia have some form of protection for journalists. In all, 12 states have a shield law that gives absolute privilege to journalists, 25 states give journalists limited quantified privileges, and most of the remaining states have a court-recognized precedent that shields journalists. The purpose of this paper is to examine how states define exactly what a journalist is, and what definition would work best for a federal law.
Rem Rieder, a media columnist at USA Today explains why shield laws are important, writing: “This is hardly an issue that matters only to journalists. Many watchdog stories important to the American people depend on confidential sources, people who would put themselves or their jobs in danger if they were identified.” When a source has a journalist’s promise their name will not be public, some groundbreaking stories can be written. With additional backing of a federal shield law, more people might be willing to come forward and be part of watchdog stories. However journalists historically do not have an …show more content…
As previously mentioned, with just days left in the 113th Congress it appears the current Senate bill is going to die. When the 114th Congress convenes in 2015, a federal shield law does not seem to be on anyone’s agenda. President Obama has staked out his agenda focusing on immigration and climate change. The Republican lead Congress has said they will focus on issues such as tax reform, the Keystone Pipeline, and repealing the medical device tax. With so many competing issues, it seems a federal shield law will go by the wayside- at least for the foreseeable

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