Reporters need a federal shield law

A Colorado judge's threatened contempt sanctions against Fox News investigative reporter Jana Winter—who refuses to reveal a confidential news source—has refocused public attention on how journalists operate.

News must often be gathered from confidential sources, or not at all. Given how vital is the freedom of the press in a democracy, that confidentiality must be maintained. It is time that Congress recognize this and enact legislation that enables journalists to protect their confidential sources and newsgathering materials.

Ms. Winter covered the July 20, 2012 mass shooting that killed 12 people and injured 58 others in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater. Based on confidential law-enforcement sources, she reported that James E. Holmes, who is charged with the murders, had previously sent a notebook to his psychiatrist describing his intent to kill.

Now that Mr. Holmes is facing trial, his defense attorneys want to know the identities of Ms. Winter's sources to aid in their client's defense. The judge has yet to decide whether the notebook, which is potentially covered by a patient-psychiatrist privilege, is admissible. He has postponed until August a decision on whether he will force Ms. Winter to reveal her sources. But if he ultimately sides with the defendant, Ms. Winter will have to choose between violating her sources' trust and going to jail.

we can't forget about the importance of shield laws. Jana Winter's story is a cautionary tale of what can happen when we don't protect our journalists.

Journalism is, was, and will be politics. Which was OK, until journalism became a single entity - until, that is, the major newspapers became associated. Read, until they became members of the Associated Press. Adam Smith predicted the result:
People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty and justice. But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies; much less to render them necessary. - Wealth of Nations (Book I, Ch 10)
After a century and a half and more of continual virtual “meeting” among its membership, the Associated Press is little elsebut" a conspiracy against the public." A conspiracy, that is, to inflate the reputations of journalists by slandering everyone else upon whom the people do and must depend.

The fact that journalists don’t have to associate with a particular political party does not prevent a political party from associating with journalism - which is what Democrats do, and why Democrats get such positive labeling and such affirmative PR, and why their opponents get such negative labeling and PR.
Journalists do not consider themselves mere citizens; they call themselves “members of the Fourth Estate” - the other three “Estates” being priestly or mobility based. Such being the case, my enthusiasm for the granting of special protections for journalists is, shall we say, limited.

Reporters need to go and apply to the state they will be practicing in for the right to play reporter.

Why should they be able to report “news”without it being certified by the government that it is based on fact.

Also future reporters will be required to pay the state a fee to register each Computer they utilize for word processing and News collation purposes.

Whats good for the 2nd Amendment is just as good as the first./Sarcasm everyone

I wonder if Jana Winter’s law enforcement source is at the Phoenix field office of the FBI? She’s involved in a case related to that office. And another proponent of a media shield law a/k/a licence to lie that would allow the government the power to define who is and who is not a privileged reporter is, or rather was, Senator John McCain.

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