The Blogging Journalist

Capital Annex: HB2249 Appears To Offer Bloggers Some Protections

Capitol Annex proprietor Vince Leibowitz down in Texas, USA, reported March 2007 that, Texas "State Representative Corbin Van Arsdale (Republican-Houston) has filed HB 2249, which is another “shield law” bill."

"It’s different from previous shield law bills in that it appears that it may offer some protections to bloggers," Leibowitz reveals. "Whether or not that was the intention of its author remains to be seen."

Leibowitz said, "How it offers that protection is rather complicated and requires reliance on sections of federal law."

To read more, please see "Another Shield Law Bill Appears To Protect Bloggers.

Thanks to Texas Representative Aaron Pena, who blogs at A Capitol Blog, for highlighting Leibowitz's post. Pena commented on the shield law bill in a post headlined "Capitol Annex Highlights The New Reporter's Shield Bill."

Yakima Herald: 'Pass Shield Law Now; Refine It Later As Needed'

The Yakima Herald in Yakima, Washington, USA, noted in a February 22, 2007 editorial that, "Prospects are good that Washington will join a majority of states that now have laws protecting journalists from jail time for not revealing confidential sources.

"It's about time," the publication said. To read the editorial, please see "Pass shield law now; refine it later as needed."

The 'Defend The Press' Campaign

On January 27, 2007, John Stauber, who blogs at the Center for Media and Democracy, reported that:

We've seen a powerful show of support for our Defend The Press campaign against military intimidation and harassment of journalists including Sarah Olson. In the past 72 hours Defend the Press has been endorsed by a diversity of news media and public interest organizations from Free Press to the Organic Consumers Association, from Mother Jones to Mothering magazines. Some of these organizations have sent emails to their thousands of members urging support for the campaign. Others have posted banners at the top of their websites. The National Press Club issued a news release on behalf of Sarah Olson and other subpoenaed journalists, and endorsed Defend The Press.

To read the entire post, please see "Defend the Press and Sarah Olson.

WSJ Online: Congress Likely To Revisit Federal Shield Law

The Wall Street Journal Online's Jess Bravin and Sarah Ellison have a December 22, 2006, post up headlined "Media-Sourcing Debate on Deck at Capitol."

"The Bush administration is increasingly at odds with some Republicans over its efforts to make journalists reveal confidential sources," they report.

WSJ Online says Congress "is likely to revisit calls for (a) federal shield law" as the controversy surrounding news coverage of Barry Bonds

is reaching a flashpoint in San Francisco, where the Justice Department is expected to file papers today urging that two San Francisco Chronicle reporters [Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams] face jail if they refuse to reveal their source for confidential grand-jury proceedings concerning baseball slugger Barry Bonds's alleged use of steroids.

This is an important case to watch, especially in an era when freedoms are being curtailed in the so-called war on terror.

Technorati tags: WSJ Online, Jess Bravin, Sarah Ellison, Media Sourcing Debate On Deck at Capitol, Mark Fainaru Wada and Lance Williams, Barry Bonds

Nat Hentoff: 'Bush Revives Espionage Act'

The Village Voice's Nat Hentoff says in a November 10, 2006, article that "Not many Americans know"  about the upcoming trial of Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, "former and dismissed staff members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the leading pro-Israel lobbying organization."

Hentoff contends that the "trial, slated for next January, ... could result in future government suppression of news stories—based on classified information—such as The Washington Post's reports by Dana Priest of CIA secret prisons in Europe and the James Risen–Eric Lichtblau New York Times revelations on the National Security Agency's secret, warrantless spying on Americans."

Or it could just result in the conviction of two Americans who thinks they shouldn't punished for espionage just because the recipients of the government documents they purloined is Israel.

To read more of Hentoff's argument, see "Bush Revives Espionage Act.

Note: This post can also be found at The Diplomatic Times Review, The Weblog Gazette and The Editorial Observer.

Denis Boyles' 'U.S. vs. Them'

Denis Boyles, author of Vile France: Fear, Duplicity, Cowardice and Cheese,' slaps the European press around in a July 28, 2006 National Review Online EuroPress Review post headlined "U.S. vs. Them." 

He's upset because many in the European columnists and opinion makers haven't endorsed the U.S. and Israeli position on the Israel/Hezbollah war in Lebanon.

By the way, It's seems hard for some traditional, American opinion makers and bloggers to understand that not all the world sucks up to us. It never has and never will. Others have their own world view and interest whether we like it or not.  

Will More Journalist Be Pressured to Reveal Anoymous Sources?

The New York Sun's Eli Lake contends in a January 6, 2006 article headlined "Sole Arbiter of Secrets"that:

In the coming months it is all but certain that more reporters will once again be called by Justice Department investigators to give up their anonymous sources. This time, instead of the case of secret agent turned cause celebre Valerie Plame, the new investigation will focus on who told the New York Times about a top-secret program to eavesdrop on calls between America and terrorists abroad.

I think he's right. By the way, on January 8, 2006, The Times' James Risen told Meet the Press' Tim Russert that he would go to jail to protect his sources on the story "Bush Secretly Lifted Some Limits on Spying in U.S. After 9/11, Officials Say," that he coauthored with Eric Lichtblau.

MR. RUSSERT: Did you guarantee your sources that you would never identify them, even if it meant going to prison?

MR. RISEN: Well, I don’t want to get into my conversations with my sources, but I—you know, I—they are anonymous sources, and I don’t want to get into anything beyond that what—depending on what the status of the leak investigation becomes, because...

MR. RUSSERT: But rather than identify your sources, would you be willing to go to prison?

MR. RISEN: Well, if I have to I will. But I hope that that never happens.

Seattle PI: Shield Law Still Needed

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer contends in a December 27, 2005 editorial that, "The fact that New York Times reporter Judith Miller's badge of courage has been tarnished does not diminish the need for shield laws to protect journalists' use of anonymous sources in the legitimate pursuit of information." See "Shield Law: Needed protection" to read the entire editorial.

Pleading for the First Amendment

The Columbia College Chronicle here in Chicago published a thought-provoking article on September 26, 2005 headlined "Pleading for the First." The bottom line: "Attempts to impede upon the duties of the press undermine the very principle on which the First Amendment was formed."