A federal judge has ordered Glenn Beck to disclose the names of confidential sources he used in his reporting that a Saudi Arabian man was involved in the Boston Marathon bombing. The man sued Beck for defamation after he was cleared of any involvement.
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Read More… from Shield laws and journalist’s privilege: The basics every reporter should know
From Reporter Committee for Freedom of the Press: In response to the recent controversy about The Associated Press phone records subpoena, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that would expand the existing shield law for the state’s journalists.
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Read More… from California expands journalist shield law, requires third-party subpoena notification
From StatesmanJournal.com: We’re all facing a tough decision by Congress later this year — and it’s not about the federal budget or national health care policy.
A question that ultimately will affect us all involves a bill with the innocuous name “Free Flow of Information Act.” In other words, it’s a proposal to create — for the first time legislatively — a national “shield law” aimed at protecting news sources and the confidential information they have provided from having to be disclosed by journalists facing a subpoena or federal grand jury.
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Read More… from Gene Policinski: Tough decision ahead for all on ‘shield law’ definition
From Talking Points Memo: WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate panel on Thursday approved a measure defining a journalist, which had been an obstacle to broader media shield legislation designed to protect reporters and the news media from having to reveal their sources.
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Read More… from Senate panel approves definition of ‘journalist’
From Watchdog.org: The most recent congressional threat to the free press in the United States comes from California Democrat U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
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Read More… from Sen. Feinstein wants to limit who can be a journalist
Opinion from the First Amendment Center: An irony of timing twice has put U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning in the headlines at critical moments in gaining congressional approval of a federal shield law that would protect journalists and their confidential sources.
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Read More… from Gene Policinski: Second try at a shield law echoes the first
Press release from New England First Amendment Coalition: The New England First Amendment Coalition registered "extreme dismay" at the government seizure of phone records of The Associated Press and urged Attorney General Eric Holder to work for passage of a federal shield law and take other steps to avert a repeat of the intrusion that was part of a probe into a security leak.
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Read More… from NEFAC says Holder should push for shield law, train Justice personnel on subpoenas
From The New York Times: WASHINGTON — The Obama administration sought on Wednesday to revive legislation that would provide greater protections to reporters from penalties for refusing to identify confidential sources, and that would enable journalists to ask a federal judge to quash subpoenas for their phone records, a White House official said.
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From Law.com:
A state court judge has extended the protections of New Jersey's newspersons' Shield Law to independent bloggers, even those who crusade against perceived government corruption and mismanagement.
Superior Court Judge Karen Cassidy on April 12 quashed a prosecutor's subpoena of Tina Renna, president of the Union County Watchdog Association, who posts frequently on a website called "The County Watchers."
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Read More… from Blogger need not reveal sources, judge says in extending Shield Law
