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SPJ has demanded that Congress strengthen protections for journalists against compelled disclosure of confidential sources in the wake of what the Society termed as the U.S. Department of Justice’s “ill-advised subpoena of four New York Times reporters.”
In a July 13 statement, SPJ urged the Justice Department to “withdraw subpoenas seeking to force the reporters to identify confidential sources for stories concerning security issues involving the president’s Qatari-donated aircraft. The Society further called on Congress to exercise vigorous oversight of the Justice Department’s use of subpoenas against journalists and to reaffirm that protecting confidential sources is essential to a free press.”
SPJ encouraged its members and the public to contact their members of Congress “to express support for strong protections for journalist-source confidentiality and to implore lawmakers to strengthen federal safeguards for journalists against compelled disclosure of source information.”
“Protecting confidential sources is fundamental to journalism and to the public’s ability to hold those in power accountable,” SPJ President Chris R. Vaccaro said in the statement. “Journalists and all supporters of a free press should let their senators and representatives know that subpoenaing reporters to expose confidential sources is unacceptable.”
SPJ: Phoenix, Arizona Chapter 