House Passes Journalist Shield Law

Texas took a significant step in press freedom on April 3 as state reps passed their version of a shield law for journalists by a 146-0 vote. Bill author Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, took great pains to explain to lawmakers that House Bill 670 is a consensus bill that gives qualified protection, subject to judicial review, to journalists and their whistle-blowing sources. The fine balance between press freedoms and legal process has been applauded by media groups, county attorneys, and First Amendment watchdogs. It even received the support of the two lawmakers who had voted nay on second reading – Reps. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball (who killed a similar bill on a technicality in 2007), and Randy Weber, R-Pearland. Weber said he was won over by a late amendment, added by Martinez Fischer, compelling journalists to appear before a judge for an in-camera hearing in cases of grand jury leaks. "I felt like that it couldn't be carte blanche immunity, that it had to have that stopgap measure in it, and as long as it had that in place, I felt better about it," Weber said.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where a smooth passage into law seems likely. An identical bill, Senate Bill 915 authored by Sens. Rod­ney Ellis, D-Houston, and Robert Dun­can, R-Lubbock, was reported favorably out of the Jurisprudence Committee, 6-0, on March 30 and was sent to the Local and Uncon­tested Calendar. José Medina, media coordinator for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said his organization supports the proposed changes. "It grants some protections to journalists, but it does set up some sensible guidelines," he said.

There are still some questions about who exactly will be protected. While there's still no universally accepted legal definition of "journalist," as it stands the bill protects anyone who receives a "substantial portion of [their] livelihood" from news gathering or publishing. That should, theoretically, include professional and semiprofessional news bloggers, but according to Matt Glazer, editor-in-chief of Burnt Orange Report, "the key word is 'substantial,'" and that has yet to be accurately described. Yet while HB 670 leaves the door open for professional bloggers to be covered eventually, he said, "it protects the people who need it now."