Idaho will have journalism shield law after Gov. Little signs bill

Kyle Pfannenstiel, Idaho Capital Sun

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — Idaho will become the 41st state with a media shield law, protecting sources who provide confidential information or documents to journalists.

Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 158 into law Thursday morning, the governor’s office’s Communications Director Emily Callihan told the Idaho Capital Sun. The governor’s office plans to hold a signing ceremony with partners involved in the bill, she said. 

The Idaho Legislature unanimously passed the bill this year, following a rise in legal threats that sought to force journalists to reveal their sources. 

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Idaho is one of 10 states without a journalism shield law, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. 

Idaho’s new media shield law takes effect July 1.

Idaho Press Club President Melissa Davlin wrote the bill based on language in laws in Kentucky and Alabama.

“Too many Gem State newsrooms have had to spend time and resources fighting subpoenas that would force them to betray their sources’ trust under threat of fines or jail time,” she told the Idaho Capital Sun in a written statement after the Legislature passed the bill. “The Idaho Press Club is grateful that lawmakers saw the need for this change, and we thank our legislative sponsors for their help getting this to the governor’s desk. Idaho, like the rest of America, needs a strong press corps, and this shield law will help reporters focus on their work instead of costly and stressful legal proceedings.”

The bill states: “No person engaged in journalistic activities shall be compelled to disclose in any legal proceeding, trial before any court, or before any jury the source of any information procured or obtained and published in a newspaper, print publication, digital news outlet, or by a radio or television broadcasting station with which the person is engaged or employed or with which the person is connected.”

Disclosure: The Idaho Capital Sun’s journalists are members of the Idaho Press Club.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: [email protected].