University Presentation Showcase: Undergraduate Poster Gallery
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Creation Date
Spring 2015
Major
Journalism
Department
Communication
Degree
Undergraduate
Mentor
Minh Nguyen
Mentor Department
Philosophy and Religion
Abstract
The need for a federal shield law to protect a reporter’s sources from the federal government is growing according to advocacy groups. The groups claim that more and more subpoenas are coming to reporters from the federal government with some journalists choosing to face the penalty for contempt of federal court instead of divulging information. This research plans to look at the all of the advocacy groups supporting this, arguments for and against a shield law, the history of enacting a federal shield law and the challenges said law has had to deal with in the U.S. House of Representatives the U.S. Senate and their respective committees, the enactment history of shield laws in state governments along with how long the laws took to pass in some states, what an ideal shield law would look like at the federal government level and the consequences to reporters and/or their sources where there is no shield law.
