What is a shield law

What is the purpose of a shield law?

Shield laws are statutes that provide journalists either an absolute or qualified privilege to refuse to disclose sources used or information obtained in the course of news gathering.

What does shield laws mean?

Roughly 30 states have passed statutes, called shield laws, allowing journalists to refuse to disclose or testify about confidential or unpublished information, including the identity of sources. The statutes vary significantly from state to state in the scope of their protections.

How many states have a shield law?

39 states

Are bloggers protected by shield laws?

Blogging and Journalism: Extending Shield Law Protection to New Media Forms. News-oriented bloggers have contributed much to the public sphere in recent years. … Under Von Bulow, bloggers would be shielded from disclosing confidential sources and information when they function as journalists.

Do all 50 states have shield laws?

Currently the U.S. federal government has not enacted any national shield laws, but most of the 50 states do have shield laws or other protections for reporters in place.

How do shield laws protect journalists?

Shield law, in the United States, any law that protects journalists against the compelled disclosure of confidential information, including the identities of their sources, or the forced surrender of unpublished written material collected during news gathering, such as notes. …

What is journalistic privilege?

The idea behind reporter’s privilege is that journalists have a limited First Amendment right not to be forced to reveal information or confidential news sources in court. … Journalists rely on confidential sources to write stories that deal with matters of legitimate public importance.

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How can we protect our journalists?

Pass a media shield law: A media shield law would protect journalists from being forced to identify confidential sources to law enforcement. It would also protect the confidentiality of journalists’ communications by restricting the government’s ability to obtain records from telecommunications providers.24 мая 2013 г.

Why should journalists protect their sources?

Journalists rely on source protection to gather and reveal information in the public interest from confidential sources. Such sources may require anonymity to protect them from physical, economic or professional reprisals in response to their revelations.

Is freedom of religion in the constitution?

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Why are shield laws important to the freedom of the press?

A shield law would prevent journalists from being legally compelled to reveal the identities of their confidential sources. … It goes without saying, therefore, that reporters are invaluable to the health of a democracy such as ours, and a shield law would facilitate their important work.

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