Protect the journalists

For better or for worse, anonymous sources are an important part of journalism, and reporters who choose not to reveal their sources should not be scared to do so, especially with the threat of jail time or government subpoenas.

This is why the Free Flow of Information Act, which would protect journalists from having to reveal confidential information from anonymous sources, is crucial.

Though 49 states and Washington have laws or decisions in place that protect journalists, there is no official law on the federal level – and to protect one of the pillars of democracy, there must be.

We don’t want to offer legal protection for the Jayson Blairs of investigative reporting, and a law that means journalists won’t have to reveal sources except in cases of national security potentially allows and possibly tempts fabricated sources and facts.
This is a worthy price to pay, however, for the types of news stories that can only come about as a result of unnamed sources – you know, those people perpetually “familiar with the bill,” and “close to the family.” They are absolute necessities for the discovery of news.

The White House has already signed off on this revised bill that will force the government to demonstrate that the confidential information is “essential” to solving a case and that all avenues have been exhausted. Now it’s up to a Senate Judiciary Committee to do the same.

As journalists working at a student publication, we are even more hopeful this bill is passed because the protection will actually extend to us – especially considering the events surrounding the student journalists at Northwestern University.

Last month, various student journalists were subpoenaed by the Illinois state attorney’s office for all their notes and information based on their multi-year re-investigation of a murder case.

However, because the journalists are not being charged with any crime and the subpoena also includes their grades, it’s questionable why the subpoena was needed in the first place. And though the subpoena has been criticized and is being fought, the fact that it happened at all is troubling.

Journalists – especially college journalists working on perhaps their first major investigative story – should not be afraid to use confidential sources, because as the Northwestern case shows, sometimes the subpoenas are beyond unnecessary.

This bill will help protect all journalists in the event they expose or criticize harmful acts, and though it is partially ridiculous that there isn’t a federal law already in place, now is as good a time as any to make sure the government cannot stop free speech with the guise of national security or simply saving face.