Brief Five: Reporter's Privilege

Reporter's privilege is defined as, "the right not to be compelled to testify or disclose sources and information in court". These rights protect reporters within their field of work, guarding their rights as reporters within their First Amendment rights. 

The protection of reporter's rights is a growing concern within the expanding platforms for news. Protecting the rights of journalists and their work behind the scenes is an essential part of journalism and reporter's privilege. 

Journalists rely on reporters' privilege because of the freedom to write without fear of testifying in court, based on the reporters' information. Not only do they rely on these protected rights, but they also rely on the confidential information provided to them that allows them to release legitimate and truthful facts to the public, making them reliable sources.

The basic rights of reporters can be described through five simple promises:

• not to testify in court
• not to testify before a grand jury
• not to hand over evidence
• not to reveal identities of confidential sources
• to be protected against newsroom searches

These rights stem from the 1970s when the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) was founded to protect the rights of journalists. Since then, this committee has aided several cases against the protection of reporters within their respective work. 

The RCFP has worked to establish rights for reporters to protect them whenever reporters are brought before a jury, for these specific cases, they have proposed a "three-pronged guideline to protect the identity of a confidential source".

Three guidelines from the RCFP: 

1.  Probable cause must be evident that the reporter has information that is relevant to a specific violation of the law.
2. No alternative means for obtaining specific information 
3.  There is a “compelling and overriding” interest by the state in the information in question 

Each of these guidelines provides protection to the reporter's release of information about their jobs. 

These guidelines coincide with "shield laws" which aid in protecting reporters' privilege. Shield laws are specifically described as, "statutes that provide journalists either an absolute or qualified privilege to refuse to disclose sources used or information obtained in the course of news gathering."

According to The First Amendment Encyclopedia, there is no federal shield law. But as of 2018, 49 states have passed their version of shield laws. Individual states are able to enact their own shield laws because of Branzburg v. Hayes in 1972, when the Supreme Court allowed states to independently introduce their own forms of protection.

These shield laws and protective measures for reporters' privilege are a major indication of the responsibility and reliability laid on the shoulders of journalists in America. With the expansion of access to resources, via the internet and social media, journalists need rights to protect themselves against unjust claims in their field.