Wisconsin set to pass reporter's 'Shield Law'

By SCOTT BAUER

MADISON, Wis.

Wisconsin would become the 39th state to enact a law protecting journalists and their confidential sources if a bill before the state Senate on Tuesday passes and is signed by the governor.

The proposal creates a so-called "Shield Law" protecting journalists from having to testify or reveal their confidential sources.

Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, called the measure a good government reform intended to protect the public's right to learn of official misdoing.

"The party that benefits from the protection of sources, much more than the news organization, is the public," Lueders said. "A lot of very important stories begin with tips from people who require confidentiality."

There's no better example of why a law like this is needed, and important, than the Pulitzer Prize-winning series of stories by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on fraud and abuse within the state's child care subsidy program that relied on information from a confidential source, he said.

Under the bill, judges could order reporters to testify, produce information or reveal a source's identity only when it is "highly relevant" to the case or critical to at least one party's argument. Attorneys would have to show they couldn't get the information any other way and there was an overriding public interest in disclosing it.

It also prohibits forcing the confidential source to testify in order to discover the identity of that person.

The Wisconsin State Bar Association's litigation section is on record against the bill, saying it would make it too difficult for parties in lawsuits to obtain non-confidential information from news organizations.

No one from the Bar who was knowledgeable about its position was immediately available to comment on Monday.

The "Whistleblower Protection Act" was drafted in consultation with the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association and the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council.

Wisconsin already has court rulings, but no state law, offering some protections for reporters. Supporters of the bill argue that even though the court precedent helps reporters, it's not as strong as a law with clear guidance for judges.

The bill is based off a 1995 state appeals court ruling that said journalists have more protection than other witnesses from being forced to testify or provide information.

The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by patients of a Milwaukee dentist accused of malpractice. A circuit court judge had ordered journalists who worked on a Milwaukee Magazine story about the dentist to testify and turn over notes and research materials.

The appeals court said the law gives journalists protection from such orders so that they can't be used "as investigative tools."

While such cases are rare, sooner or later there will be one in which a reporter will be facing jail time for not giving up a source, Lueders said.

The bill easily cleared the state Assembly in September on a voice vote.

Gov. Jim Doyle, a former three-term attorney general, has said he's generally supportive of the bill.

Most states already have Shield Laws but there is no federal protection. Kansas became the 38th to enact one last week. Should Wisconsin's bill pass, it would take effect three months after being signed into law by the governor.