Perhaps the most important law journalists have is shield
laws. Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia all have shield laws with
a reporter’s privilege protecting them if a state government wants to make them
reveal confidential information. There is not protection for journalist on a
federal level however.If a reporter promises confidentiality and is later to force to give that information to a court, that source can sue them for breach of contract. This law helps protect reporters from that. Depending on which state the law is in, the privilege
may be total privilege or qualified. While the law is meant for reporters, it
can also be extended out to other persons involved in the news-gathering
process as well, like an editor or publisher.
§57-3-10. Reporters’ Privilege.
The West Virginia Shield law was created based on the precedent
of Hudok v. Henry, 182 W. Va. 500, 505 (W.Va 1989). However, the W.Va.shield
law was not created until 2011 after it was signed into law by Governor Earl
Ray Tomblin. According to the law, a reporter is:
“a
person who regularly gathers, prepares, collects, photographs, records, writes,
edits, reports, or publishes news or information that concerns matters of
public interest for dissemination to the public for a substantial portion of
the person’s livelihood, or a supervisor, or employer of that person in that
capacity: Provided, That a student reporter at an accredited
educational institution who meets all of the requirements of this definition,
except that his or her reporting may not provide a portion of his or her
livelihood, meets the definition of reporter for purposes of this section.”
If you fall under any of these categories, then you should
not be forced to testify in any civil, criminal, administrative or grand jury
court case with information concerning a confidential source of any published
or unpublished information. West Virginia has one of the best shield laws in
the country as it pertains to protection of reporters in the State.
No comments:
Post a Comment