Shield law provides needed protection

To the editor:

This session I am sponsoring legislation aimed at protecting reporters and their confidential sources. We rely on newspapers, magazines and other media outlets to tell us what is going on around us. Although we might not always agree with what and how the media report the news, an aggressive and independent press is indispensable in assuring that the individual liberties of Americans are not violated.

Citizens have a right to know. Oftentimes people only confide to reporters because confidentiality is available to them. Confidentiality allows the truth to be disseminated to the public without the whistle-blowers losing their jobs, putting their families in harm's way or confronting prosecution themselves.

Current Missouri law threatens reporters with jail time if they refuse to reveal the names of anonymous sources when subpoenaed. Physicians and attorneys are offered certain defenses to protect individuals when it comes to divulging sensitive information to the courts. Journalists, too, should be offered a protective shield.

To this end, I have proposed the Free Flow of Information Act of 2006, which would prevent a reporter from being forced to reveal a source until after a court considers what information is sought and the relevancy of the disclosed information. The court must decide why the source needs to be identified and determine the plausibility of gathering the information from other sources. The court can only order a journalist to disclose the information if it cannot be obtained elsewhere and the need for disclosing the information outweighs the public interest of the truth.

JASON CROWELL, State Senator, Cape Girardeau