On Oct. 16, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would protect journalists from being forced to reveal any and all sources they have in a court of law. The bill was passed in a landslide victory (398 to 21), and is considered a victory for journalists everywhere, according to “rcfp.org”.
The bill allows journalists specifically the right to withhold information about sources that they have from federal investigators, with some exceptions. Before the bill passed, there was no such protection at this level of the U.S. Government, which meant that if a journalist refused to reveal one or more of their sources, it could mean prison time. A scenario like this wasn’t uncommon; last September, Josh Wolf was imprisoned for 226 days for refusing to turn over a video he had that may have included footage of a possible arson. This marks the longest time that a journalist has ever been in prison for withholding information.
Some exceptions that the legislation includes are if revealing a source is necessary to prevent an act of terrorism, or deadly/bodily harm. Also, if someone has disclosed private business/medical information, or if the reporter witnessed some sort of criminal act, disclosure is required.
With a bill like this now in place, journalists everywhere no longer have to worry about being forced to reveal any sources they have. It allows for them to bring to the public information, without any retribution or prosecution, and it will give more sources the confidence to come forward, anonymous or not. Such privacy is something that some reporters, sadly, take for granted, until they might be forced to come forward with information. Then the gravity of the situation becomes clear. With this bill, such situations will rarely arise.
We at the Skyline View applaud the House for voting this bill into legislation. The privacy and protection that it ensures is a luxury that only some states had provided. Now that it is a bill, the protection covers reporters all over the country. Even though there are talks that the bill may get vetoed, the bill has such support in the House that a 2/3 override seems possible.