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Saturday, November 7, 2009
Shielding the public's right to know
News leaks played a central role in the controversy surrounding a Bush-era vice-presidential aid, whose trial is depicted here.

New Jersey voters may have faith that governor-elect Christopher J. Christie can deliver on his campaign pledge to root out corruption, but Christie's job will be that much easier if the state's press corps continues to fulfill its watchdog role.

So a congressional measure primed for Senate consideration - one that's of greatest interest to journalists - could wind up helping Christie and other reform-minded leaders.

Under a compromise worked out with the Obama administration, journalists and their confidential sources finally could see new federal protections needed to assure that the press can keep the public informed about the workings of government, business, and civic affairs.

Most states have such shield laws, including strong ones in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. But without a national shield law, federal lawsuits over news leaks have undermined the state statutes and threaten to chill newsgathering efforts critical to a free society.

A chief cosponsor of the federal measure, Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.), contends that if investigative journalists "can't protect sources, there is a lot of public corruption and private malfeasance that will go undetected and unpunished."

Indeed, it's only due to the assurances of confidentiality that many whistle-blowers and other news sources are willing to reveal what they know.

While the House approved a shield law version in March, Senate action came to a halt over the summer while President Obama considered objections from intelligence agencies agents and prosecutors. Their chief concern was that the courts be able to order reporters to disclose sources in cases involving national-security concerns.

Even before the compromise announced last week, Specter's bill provided a reasonable exception for confidentiality when necessary to deter a terrorist attack or other serious crime. That balanced citizens' right to know with government's duty to protect them from harm.

To gain White House approval, though, the Senate measure puts an even greater legal burden on journalists and news organizations to shield information sought by prosectors in criminal cases. By forcing journalists to prove to a judge that there's a "clear and convincing" public interest in the free flow of information, the proposed shield law clearly tilts in favor of authorities and government secrecy.

While that could make it difficult to avoid disclosing sources in some cases, the Senate proposal at least gives reporters and editors a fighting chance to win the case for confidentiality before an impartial judge. So major news organizations are right to support this compromise, as perhaps the best that can be achieved.

The compromise shield law bill should be approved by the full Senate and sent to the president - to the cheers of corruption-fighters everywhere.

Posted by Inquirer Editorial Board @ 3:10 AM  Permalink | 1 comment
Comments   
Posted 03:49 AM, 11/09/2009
mikeyg
Arlen "magic bullet" Specter speaking about honesty, please.
1 comments
About The Inquirer Editorial Board
Harold Jackson, a winner of the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing, grew up in Birmingham, Ala., during the civil rights movement. He graduated from Baker University in Baldwin, Kan., in 1975, with a degree in journalism/political science. He has also worked at the Birmingham Post-Herald, United Press International, the Birmingham News, and the Baltimore Sun. He was at The Inquirer in the mid-1980s, returned in 1999, and became editorial page editor in 2007.

Paul Davies is the deputy editor of the Editorial Page. His newspaper career has spanned more than 20 years and includes stints at The Wall Street Journal and the Philadelphia Daily News. He graduated from the University of Delaware and received a masters in journalism from Columbia University, where he was also a Knight-Bagehot Fellow. He was born in Philadelphia and still lives in the city.

Tony Auth began drawing while bedridden for a year and a half at the age of five. He graduated from UCLA in 1965 and worked for six years as a medical illustrator while doing three cartoons a week for various college newspapers. Tony has been happily ensconced as The Inquirer’s editorial cartoonist since 1971. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1976, and has won numerous other awards, including five Overseas Press Club Awards, the Sigma Delta Chi award for distinguished service in Journalism, and the Herblock and Thomas Nast Prizes. Tony is married to Eliza Drake Auth, a painter of realistic landscapes and portraits.

Trudy Rubin is the foreign affairs columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and a member of The Inquirer’s editorial board. Her column appears twice weekly in The Inquirer and runs regularly in many other newspapers around the United States. She is the author of Willful Blindness: The Bush Administration and Iraq.

Kevin Ferris is an assistant editor on the Editorial Board who oversees the Sunday Currents section and writes a weekly column on a wide range of issues. In his 15 years on the board, he’s handled letters to the editor and the Community Voices pages and has been Commentary Page editor. He started with The Inquirer in 1986, and his assignments have ranged from the copy and news desks to the Chester County bureau and the national/foreign desk.

As an editorial writer for The Inquirer for the past two decades, Russell Cooke has written on a wide range of topics covering government, legal, civic and social issues. Before joining the Editorial Board, he was a reporter in the Inquirer’s City Hall bureau.

Editorial writer Dave Boyer joined The Inquirer in 2002. He writes about politics, government, the economy, sports and many other subjects, but draws the line at writing about "Jon & Kate Plus Eight." He has won journalism awards and insists bribery was not involved. A native of Allentown, Boyer graduated from Penn State. He and his wife reside in Center City, where they enjoy strolling and paying the wage tax.

Melanie Burney joined the editorial board in January 2008 after covering education at the Inquirer for eight years. She previously worked at the Associated Press in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey. She is a graduate of Glassboro State College, now Rowan University, and a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Josh Gohlke has been The Inquirer’s op-ed editor since last year, editing the daily commentary page and writing occasional editorials. He came to the Inquirer after eight years at The Record of Bergen County, N.J., first as a reporter covering local and state politics and government and ultimately as the deputy editorial page editor. He also worked as a reporter for several smaller papers in New Jersey and California. Josh was born and raised in Los Angeles and graduated from Stanford University. He lives in Philadelphia.

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