EDITORIAL
National 'shield' law needed for journalists

There is substantial irony in the fact that one of the biggest cases involving protection of sources by reporters comes on the heels of the disclosure of the identity of one of the most famous anonymous sources of all: "Deep Throat."

Deep Throat was the pseudonym used by The Washington Post to refer to W. Mark Felt, the FBI official who was a key source in that paper's disclosure of the White House skullduggery behind the Watergate break-in.

And now, two reporters — one from The New York Times and one from Time magazine — face a court hearing today to decide whether they should go to jail for refusing to divulge sources to federal prosecutors.

The prosecutors are investigating how the name of a clandestine CIA agent was revealed. The double irony here is that neither reporter, Matthew Cooper of Time and Judith Miller of The New York Times, actually disclosed the name of the agent. They simply had been looking into the story.

It is particularly unsettling that Cooper's employer capitulated to investigators and turned over notes, e-mails and other materials. Still, Federal District Judge Thomas Hogan has insisted that unless the reporters answer questions before a grand jury, he will send them to jail.

What we are seeing here is the court using its power to coerce reporters into cooperating with a law investigation. This is a terrible precedent.

Reporters are not agents of the law or of the courts. Imagine if every source, named or unnamed, had to assume that any interaction with a reporter was tantamount to cooperating with law enforcement officials. The flow of information would dry up, and the public would be left without any real sense of what their government was up to, short of official handouts.

Reporters are not above the law, clearly. But the law can and should be written in a way that permits journalists to go about their business free from easy government coercion. What is needed is a federal "shield" law that grants reporters limited immunity from forced disclosure much as is now granted to priests, lawyers, spouses and others.

A reasonable, and reasoned, bill has been introduced in Congress (HR 581, the "Free Flow of Information Act") that would do just that. It should be passed quickly.

And in the meantime, Hawai'i should join the majority of states around the nation that have their own shield laws. That step is long overdue.