Locy urges journalists: 'It's time to turn and fight'
Toni Locy says she never thought a federal shield law was needed. That is, until she ended up facing nearly $50,000 in fines and potential jail time for doing her job. That's what she told a gathering that I attended Saturday at the annual National Freedom of Information Coalition conference in Philadelphia. Locy made her arguments Friday before the U.S. Court of Appeals in hopes of not having to reveal confidential sources she can't even remember (see a great summary provided by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. We need some shield protection at the federal level, just as we have in 36 states. And unfortunately, journalists as a whole seem a little cowed, for whatever reason. "It's time to stop running," Locy said to the crowd. "It's time to turn and fight. If we don't fight for the First Amendment, who will?" ... "We, in journalism, have allowed proponents of government secrecy to define our terms... There is this fear, this absolute fear in the news business right now that needs to be corralled."
Locy is right. Many people at the NFOIC conference lamented that they run across so many journalists who won't write about secrecy or public records denials, saying it's "insider baseball" and that readers don't care. That's a load of hooey. According to my research, readers do care a lot, particularly when it involves records about tax dollars and public safety (they don't care when it comes to records with privacy elements, such as concealed weapons permits). And it's not insider baseball. When officials say "no" to a journalist, they are saying "no" to that journalist's community of thousands or millions of people. Those people deserve to know.
It's possible we will see a final shield law bill emerge from the U.S. Senate in the next few weeks (the House already approved a good version of it). The Senate version is likely to include language that makes some journalists uncomfortable, as it attempts to define who is covered, therefore potentially creating a separate category for journalists (slippery slope toward licensing - you give special rights to journalists then you can take them away). At Saturday's meeting Lucy Dalglish, director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, told the crowd that the Senate version will likely cover some bloggers and others who commit acts of journalism. And that's good, similar to the shield laws just passed in Hawaii and Maine (see previous FOI FYI posts on those shield laws). Some people might quibble at the language, and it won't be perfect, but the reality is we - the people - need a federal shield law to prevent government bullying and control of information. And we need it now before the momentum is lost. Newspapers need to write editorials and stories about the horrendous assaults on freedom of information and press rights. Media organizations need to sue for records, and defend against fishing subpoenas. We need to stop running.
It's time to turn and fight.