Study finds more newsrooms getting subpoenas for more reasons

A study by a law visiting fellow at the University of Arizona found that more journalists are getting subpoenas for more reasons. In the survey by RonNell Andersen Jones, 761 respondents (38 percent of those who got the questionnaire) said they had received a total of 3,062 subpoenas in 2006. The study indicates an enormous increase in subpoenas issued since the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press did a similar study in 2001. See story in American Journalism Review. While it's troublesome that a federal shield law could carve out who is a journalist and who isn't (heading down that dangerous road of licensing of journalists - and I personally think shield laws should focus on defining the practice of journalism rather than who is a journalist), the reality is that government officials are becoming more brazen in using journalists as crutches in their investigations when they should just do their jobs, and shield laws provide some crucial, practical protections for news gathering. By the way, at an AP luncheon Tuesday, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Republican presidential candidate John McCain said he supports the federal shield law and Barack Obama said he supports open government. Hold them to it.