The ABA report accompanying the resolution it passed last week favoring a journalist shield law contained this important reminder:

In sum, the public expects the media to provide them with important news and information on matters of public concern, including matters related to the justice system and government. If journalists are prevented from getting all aspects of a story because their access to confidential sources is not secure, citizens will not receive the information to which they are entitled, and the public interest will not be served. The public’s ability to stay informed and hold its government accountable, both, in the end, will be diminished.

The ABA resolution did not support a particular piece of legislation. Instead, it set out the principles that should be embodied in the shield law.

RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges the Congress to enact a federal shield law for journalists to protect the public’s need for information and to promote the fair administration of justice, incorporating the following principles:

1) That journalists play an important role in providing information of significance to the public that aids in ensuring an informed democracy;

2) That prior to requiring information from journalists, a party should demonstrate that the information sought is essential to a critical issue in the matter, that all reasonable alterna-tive sources for the information have been exhausted, and that the need for the informa-tion clearly outweighs the public interest in protecting the free flow of information;

3) That a federal shield law should apply to journalists who disseminate information by print, photographic, broadcast, cable, satellite, electronic, mechanical, or any other me-dia, through a newspaper, book, magazine, periodical, radio or television station, pro-gramming service, channel, network, news agency or wire service, or similar services.