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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: Brant Houston, Len Bruzzese
Oct. 21, 1998
IRE SUPPORTS NBC BID TO PROTECT UNBROADCAST MATERIAL FROM SUBPOENA
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. has voiced its support of an amici brief seeking a rehearing of a federal appeals court decision. The decision would have the effect of forcing reporters to divulge unpublished or unbroadcast materials from nonconfidential sources.
The board of directors of IRE has voted unanimously to endorse the view, asserted by a broad coalition of media companies and related organizations, that reporters have a qualified privilege under federal law to protect disclosure of nonconfidential materials obtained in news gathering.
The amici brief filed by the media coalition supports the petition by NBC for a rehearing of the September 22 decision in Gonzales vs. Pierce by the three-member panel of judges or a rehearing by all judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.
The ruling came after NBC refused to turn over unbroadcast videotape from a "Dateline" segment subpoenaed in a federal civil rights lawsuit.
A Hispanic couple is suing a Louisiana deputy sheriff caught on videotape by a "Dateline" producer pulling over a rental car with out-of-state plates. The program segment was testing a theory that law enforcement officers along Interstate 10 in Louisiana were pulling over drivers because of race, nationality or out-of-state plates.
Both parties in that lawsuit issued subpoenas to NBC seeking materials and information not contained in the broadcast.
NBC refused to produce the raw outtakes from the news story and declined to provide testimony about those materials, saying the First Amendment provided a qualified privilege on material reporters get from nonconfidential sources.
The purpose of this well-established rule is to balance the need for complete information in civil and criminal trials against the interests of a free press in carrying out First Amendment activities. Courts have long protected disclosure of both confidential and nonconfidential materials gathered by investigative reporters in order to prevent undue interference that could chill the practice of gathering and publishing vital information for the public.
"We think it is crucial that we take a clear stand on this issue on behalf of our members," said Brant Houston, executive director of IRE. "We are extremely concerned that the court's decision could restrict or discourage investigative pieces that are so clearly in the public interest."
Investigative Reporters and Editors is an international organization of more than 3,500 members dedicated to improving the quality of investigative journalism through education, shared resources and high standards.
IRE will seek to join in future court filings that support continued application of the qualified reporters' privilege. The media organizations supporting NBC in its pending request for a rehearing include ABC Inc.; Advance Publications, Inc.; The Associated Press; Bloomberg, L.P.; Cable News Network, Inc.; CBS Corp.; Daily News, L.P.; Dow Jones & Company, Inc.; Gannett Co., Inc.; The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.; Newsday, Inc.; The New York Press Club, Inc.; The New York Times Company; NYP Holdings, Inc.; The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; Reuters America, Inc.; Time Inc.; and Univision Communications, Inc.
