Strengthen the Reporter-Source Privilege

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A union organized demonstration of news media personnel and supporters gathered to protest the potential jailing of two reporters, Wednesday July 6, 2005 in New York. — AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews

Confidential sources need to know that journalists won’t be forced to out them.

Many sources with newsworthy information can only speak out safely if their names are kept confidential. Journalists need to be able to promise sources confidentiality — and be able to keep those promises without going to jail.

Almost every state has recognized a reporter-source privilege that protects confidential sources and, in some cases, other newsgathering materials. But those laws don’t always stop demands for reporters’ sources, and bad legal decisions can undermine them. We need to strengthen the reporter-source privilege at both the state and federal levels.

Tell Congress to stand up for journalist Seth Harp’s constitutional freedoms

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Edit this message so that it is unique to you: Dear Representative, I am ALARMED and OUTRAGED by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s bipartisan vote to subpoena journalist Seth Harp. The vote followed Harp’s reporting of the name and publicly available online biography of a Delta Force commander involved in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Whether or not you agree with Harp’s decision to publish that information, his reporting is clearly protected by the First Amendment, which allows journalists to report even classified secrets, as long as they don’t break the law to obtain them. The subpoena has no legislative purpose, and you and your colleagues know the importance of journalist-source confidentiality. After all, the House unanimously passed the PRESS Act to protect journalists from subpoenas in 2024. It is vital that you do EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER to ensure that this subpoena not go forward — as well as Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s subsequent referral of Harp’s case to the Department of Justice for an unconstitutional criminal investigation. That referral baselessly alleges violations of the Espionage Act and other inapplicable laws, all premised on the absurd notion that naming government higher-ups is “doxxing” or otherwise illegal. It is not the press’s job to keep the government’s secrets. URLs are not allowed in this message.

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Thank you for telling Congress to end its unconstitutional efforts to investigate journalist Seth Harp.

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Join me in telling Congress that subpoenaing and investigating journalist Seth Harp over constitutionally protected reporting is illegal and intolerable.

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