For Release: November 10, 2005
Journalists Matt Cooper, Judith Miller and Jim Taricani joined Congressman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) last night in a panel discussion led by Terry Moran of ABC News on the reporter’s privilege. The panel, sponsored by the Media Law Resource Center (MLRC), was part of the organization’s 25th annual dinner celebration.
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© Julienne Schaer
The three journalists brought the discussion about the reporter’s privilege and the need for a federal shield law to the forefront. Mr. Cooper, TIME magazine’s White House correspondent, and Ms. Miller, a former correspondent at The New York Times, fought subpoenas from a federal special prosecutor to reveal their sources in connection with the disclosure in July 2003 of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Ms. Miller served 85 days in a federal prison in Alexandria, Virginia for refusing to reveal her source before a grand jury.
Mr. Taricani, an investigative reporter for WJAR-TV, served four months of a six-month sentence of home confinement for refusing to reveal to a federal special prosecutor the source of a videotape under seal that caught a mayoral aide accepting a bribe. Shortly after Mr. Taricani’s conviction but before his sentencing, the source went public, yet the court punished Mr. Taricani nonetheless.
Rep. Pence is an author of the Free Flow of Information Act (H.R. 3323), a bill that would create a federal shield law. Together with Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), Rep. Pence co-sponsored introduction of the bill in the House of Representatives earlier this year, and fellow Indiana legislator, Senator Richard Lugar, introduced the bill in the Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee has held two hearings on the bill, most recently in October.
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Terry Moran was named co-anchor of ABC News “Nightline” in October 2005 and will assume anchor duties at the end of November. Based in Washington, D.C., he currently is anchor of “World News Tonight Sunday” as well as ABC News’ Chief White House correspondent, a position he has held since September 1999.
The Media Law Resource Center – formerly the Libel Defense Resource Center – is a non-profit information clearinghouse organized in 1980 by leading media groups to monitor developments and promote First Amendment rights in the libel, privacy and related fields.
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Contact: Sandra S. Baron, Esq.
Executive Director, Media Law Resource Center
(212) 337-0200; medialaw@medialaw.org
