SPJ commends Department of Justice for Report on Review of News Media Policies

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7/17/2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Sonny Albarado, SPJ National President,501.551.8811, spjsonny@gmail.com
Ellen Kobe, SPJ Communications Coordinator, 317.920.4785, ekobe@spj.org

INDIANAPOLIS — Leaders of the Society of Professional Journalists' expressed thanks to the Department of Justice for taking steps to tighten rules regarding investigations that involve journalists.

In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, SPJ President Sonny Albarado said “The Society of Professional Journalists commends you and the Department of Justice for taking seriously the concerns of journalists regarding DOJ policies affecting investigations that involve members of the news media.”

The letter, in response to the recent Department of Justice Report on Review of News Media Policies, also thanked Holder for the department’s continued support of a federal Shield Law.

A copy of Albarado’s full letter to Holder can be found below this statement.

Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. For more information about SPJ, please visit www.spj.org.

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July 16, 2013

Attorney General Eric Holder
Office of the Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear Attorney General Holder:

The Society of Professional Journalists commends you and the Department of Justice for taking seriously the concerns of journalists regarding DOJ policies affecting investigations that involve members of the news media.

The revisions to Department policy outlined in your report should provide additional protections to working journalists and ensure tighter departmental review of the use of last-resort tools to demand access to news media records.

We appreciate your continued support of legislation to facilitate judicial review of all demands for press records.

SPJ continues to support a Shield Law that would involve an impartial judge when there is a demand for a reporter's records because of the ability to test the government's need for records before they are seized.

SPJ is the nation's oldest and most broad-based journalism advocacy group in the country, founded in 1909 and with about 8,000 members. SPJ is dedicated to the perpetuation of a free press as the cornerstone of our nation and liberty.

Sincerely,

Sonny Albarado
President
Society of Professional Journalists
3909 N. Meridian St.
Indianapolis, IN 46208
spjsonny@gmail.com
501-244-4321 (office)
501-551-8811 (cell)