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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
6 pages in length. Protecting the identity of confidential sources is as much a part of journalism as the notion of freedom of the press is a critical component of the First Amendment. That discretion should be left up to the reporter with regard to which sources he safeguards is a fundamental tenet in the quest for media to uphold their obligation to inform the public both properly and accurately; stripped of the ability to withhold source identity through a federal shield law, the wealth of informants would cease to exist, the free flow of information would be interrupted (Anonymous A14) and reporters would be incapable of unearthing pertinent details, ultimately be relegated to printing basic press releases. In essence, the confidential source is what brings a story to life by infusing it with much-needed information few people may have and be willing to give it to a reporter. Bibliography lists 7 sources.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: LM1_TLCjournlaw.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
be left up to the reporter with regard to which sources he safeguards is a fundamental tenet in the quest for media to uphold their obligation to inform the public
both properly and accurately; stripped of the ability to withhold source identity through a federal shield law, the wealth of informants would cease to exist, the free flow of information
would be interrupted (Anonymous A14) and reporters would be incapable of unearthing pertinent details, ultimately be relegated to printing basic press releases. In essence, the confidential source is what
brings a story to life by infusing it with much-needed information few people may have and be willing to give it to a reporter. Anonymous sources are sometimes necessary
in ferreting out vital information on the operation of our governments, and the integrity of the profession and its mission in informing the public are jeopardized when journalists dont honor
their promises of confidentiality to those sources (Statement from the Society of Professional Journalists). Without the help of informants, it is guaranteed
that governmental investigations would suffer to a great extent in light of the tremendous advantage such purveyors of information bestow upon illegal activity. From anonymous to citizen to professional
to criminal, informants are comprised of various types of individuals who uphold an assortment of ranks or positions within the overall schemata of informant classification; to compromise their anonymity is
to lose their future cooperation and in some cases threaten their lives. Justice White did not see it this way, however, when ruling on Branzburg v. Hayes by stating
that reporters are no more privileged than the average citizen when it comes to refusing to provide information for government investigations (Branzburg v. Hayes). While Gora notes how the
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