Idaho journalists testify in house hearing as shield law bill advances out of committee
Published at | Updated at
BOISE – Media stakeholders met in Idaho’s capitol Wednesday afternoon to discuss a new bill with the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee that aims to establish a shield law to protect journalists’ confidential conversations.
The House committee voted unanimously to move House Bill 158 to Idaho’s House with a do-pass recommendation. The bill was first introduced on Feb. 5, after Idaho Falls Reps. Marco Erickson and Barbara Ehardt sponsored it.
Shield laws protect reporters from being forced to disclose confidential information or sources in state court. This bill aims to give this protection to those who participate in journalistic activities.
RELATED | Idaho Legislature introduces bill to protect confidential sources for journalists
“No person engaged in journalistic activities shall be compelled to disclose in any legal proceeding, trial before any court, or before any jury the source of any information procured or obtained and published in a newspaper, print publication, digital news outlet, or by a radio or television broadcasting station with which the person is engaged or employed or with which the person is connected,” the bill states.
It also protects unpublished information, notes or communications obtained through the news-gathering activities, except for cases involving physical harm or national security.
The move to create the bill was spurred by an increasing number of media agencies being summoned across the state, including East Idaho News, which had a conversation between a reporter and a source played in court.
Journalists testify
EastIdahoNews.com Managing Editor Nate Sunderland spoke to the committee about this experience and why a shield law is necessary to protect not only journalists but also those who contact them.
“Please consider the chilling impact this has on whistleblowers who come forward to expose corruption in government in business. Please consider the harm that could be done to a victim of a crime or abuse who comes to a reporter for help in a difficult situation. Consider the many off-the-record conversations between reporters and lawmakers explaining the inner workings of government,” Sunderland said.
Sunderland asked the committee to ponder how many sources would come forward if they knew a subpoena could expose them to the public.
“For journalists to help the public and for us to hold those in power accountable for their actions, we need to assure that our sources and our conversations are inherently private,” Sunderland said.
Idaho Press Club President Melissa Davlin told members of the committee that Idaho is one of 10 states without a shield law and this could explain the increase in subpoenas issued to journalists over the last few years.
“We’re seeing them all across the state… we’re seeing them in both civil and criminal cases, from defense and prosecuting attorneys from private attorneys, and so there’s no real pattern other than people know now that we don’t have a shield law,” Davlin said.
Ben Olson, co-owner and publisher of the Sandpoint Reader, shared his experience dealing with subpoenas after an investigation he conducted on a man spreading extremist propaganda in Idaho’s panhandle. He said the article came out in January 2018. The man in the story, Scott Rhodes, began a “campaign of harassment, intimidation and threats” against Olson, the publication and several businesses that advertised through the Reader.
Olson said the man went to court after the Federal Communications Commission fined him $13 million for violating the Truth and Caller Act. According to the Sandpoint Reader, the amount was lowered to $9.9 million after the U.S. District Court in Montana issued a partial summary judgment finding Rhodes liable for 4,959 illegally spoofed robocalls.
While in court, Olson said the man subpoenaed the publication demanding notes, emails, and recordings of those he spoke with for the article.
“It was an attempt to harass me further and potentially harass the sources who spoke with me,” Olson said.
He said an attorney represented him pro bono, which helped him save thousands of dollars in attorney fees for the small publication. A judge later quashed the subpoena, which prevented Rhodes from accessing Olson’s sources.
Idaho Press Club lobbyist Ken Burgess, part of Veritas Advisors, told the committee members that H.B. 158 is an extension of Senate Bill 1001, an anti-slapp bill introduced in January by the Idaho Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee.
“As Melissa Davlin pointed out, increasingly, people are using the subpoena tool in order to get information and identify people for the purposes of harassment and intimidation,” Burgess said. “This is an opportunity to close that door and be able to provide the confidentiality for folks as they move forward.”
Don Day, cofounder of Elevate 208 Media, runs the BoiseDev website. He spoke about dealing with a subpoena in which a lawyer pursued them over a larger corporate-owned media outlet.
“The lawyer chose not to subpoena the out-of-state company, but instead, they tried us. Perhaps they thought we wouldn’t fight or that our more limited resources would make it easier. They threatened to hold us in contempt, which is a very unsettling thing for my wife and I,” Day said.
While fighting the subpoena cost the publication thousands of dollars, Day said they convinced the lawyer to find the information elsewhere. Day said the money used to fight these lawsuits could instead be used for writing stories or raising wages.
“The First Amendment protects our ability to speak, and in 40 other states, red and blue, the legislators have seen the wisdom in protecting our right not to speak,” Day said. “To allow us to do news gathering work that sometimes involves conversations, emails and records – that should never see the light of day.”
EastIdahoNews.com comment boards are a place for open, honest, and civil communication between readers regarding the news of the day and issues facing our communities. We encourage commenters to stay on topic, use positive and constructive language, and be empathetic to the feelings of other commenters. THINK BEFORE YOU POST. Click here for more details on our commenting rules.