Does Wisconsin need a shield law?
by Dave Zweifel State Rep. Joe Parisi (D-Madison) is proposing legislation to create a state “shield law” for news media. Thirty-two states already have such laws, which protect a journalist’s right to keep confidential the sources and material gathered during reporting. The Utah Supreme Court recently passed a rule to create a similar privilege there. The need for shield laws arose in Kentucky in the early 1970s, when a reporter wrote a story about two hashish manufacturers. Authorities wanted to know the men’s names, but the reporter refused to reveal them. Eventually, Kentucky’s Supreme Court ruled that reporters who witnessed a crime couldn’t keep their sources secret. The decision alarmed the news industry, spurring efforts throughout the country to pass shield laws. Interestingly, the Kentucky case coincided with one in Wisconsin. The day after the infamous bombing of the UW’s Sterling Hall in August 1970, the culprits claimed credit in a note delivered to a Madison underground n
