Brief 5: How Much Do Shield Laws Actually Protect Reporters?

     

     Reporters are able to find great stories and obtain controversial information due to their ability to promise sources that what they say is going to remain anonymous. This promise is backed by shield laws that protects writers privilege and keeps them from being forced to testify about confidential sources. However, this law doesn't always fully protect reporters. They are still subjects of scrutiny from the public, law, and their company when they refuse to release information on their source, especially when their source reveals controversial information. This happened when reporter Claire O'Brien was fired after a reporters privilege fight. 

     Claire O'Brien "refused to reveal a confidential source and story notes from her jailhouse interview to Ford County Attorney". She was later fired from the Dodge City Daily for her practicing her rights as a reporter. She "told the press her lawyers from Gatehouse had hindered her from seeking outside counsel unless she agreed to testify". The Shield Law should protect her from this kind of manipulation, however you can clearly see this is not the case. She said that Gatehouse even "kept her in the dark about court dates," making it harder for her to keep up with her legal matters. 

     O'Brien was not forced by the court to reveal the confidential interview, however, the company she worked for tried to twist her arm into spilling the information by keeping her from seeking outside counsel and withholding her court dates from her. When she resisted releasing the information and exercised her reporters privilege, it resulted in her being fired from her job. Yes, the Shield Laws protected her from harassment by the courts hand, but what is going to protect her, and future reporters from the scrutiny and the ultimate demise of her career she faced with the company she worked for? 

Articles Cited: 
(http://www.imediaethics.org/dodge-city-reporter-fired-after-reporters-privilege-fight/)