Shield law amendment ready for Governor’s pen
by March 29, 2011 3:01 pm 97 views
Expansion of Arkansas’ media shield law to include television reporters and Internet-based journalists is headed to the desk of Gov. Mike Beebe for his expected signature.
Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith, filed SB 772 on Mar. 3 to add “television station, or Internet news source” to the state law. The law, first approved in 1936, protects members of the media from being forced to disclose “to any grand jury or to any other authority” the sources for the stories they produce.
As of 2009, 36 states had some form of protection for journalists, with Maryland being the first state (1896) to adopt a shield. The laws are different in each state, but primarily protect a journalist from revealing sources. The laws don’t always protect reporters. According to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, at least 37 U.S. journalists have gone to jail to protect a source.
Arkansas’ law was amended in 1947, and has been litigated in the state appellate courts twice, most recently in 1978.
The Senate approved the bill 35-0, and the House on Monday (Mar. 28) approved it 84-0, with 15 members not voting.
Beebe Spokesman Matt DeCample said he expects the Governor will sign the bill.
Prior to the beginning of the 88th Arkansas General Assembly, The City Wire sent a formal request to Files asking him to consider amending the shield law. Owners of The City Wire believed the law was vague with respect to online web publications, especially those that are "pure" in the sense that they are not a subsidiary or direct operation of a traditional news outlet. Roby Brock with Talk Business and Max Brantley with the Arkansas Times also supported the change.
If signed, the Arkansas shield law will note: “Before any editor, reporter, or other writer for any newspaper, periodical, radio station, television station, or Internet news source, or publisher of any newspaper, periodical, or Internet news source, or manager or owner of any radio station shall be required to disclose to any grand jury or to any other authority the source of information used as the basis for any article he or she may have written, published, or broadcast, it must be shown that the article was written, published, or broadcast in bad faith, with malice, and not in the interest of the public welfare.”