Who is protected by the First and Fifth Amendments?
Ashenfelter has argued that both a First Amendment-based reporter’s privilege and a Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination protect him from having to testify in Convertino’s case. Niehoff explained that a newspaper has the same First Amendment-based privilege to protect the source material as a reporter. “The lynchpin of any reporter’s privilege can’t turn on the title ‘reporter’ or ‘journalist’; it’s too vague and an undisciplined way to think about it to be useful,” Niehoff said. “We want to protect the process. If the goal is to protect the free flow of information, then that protection should extend in all directions necessary.” Whether a Fifth Amendment privilege extends to the Free Press is a trickier question. Niehoff said that if Ashenfelter had committed a crime by interviewing the source of the leak, then his newspaper editors may have also committed the crime of conspiracy by working with him in the editorial process. But it hasn’t been addressed by any court. If C
