Pushing for a Vote
American Journalism Review
March 1, 2008
Charles D. "Chuck" Tobin- Washington
Charles D. Tobin was quoted in an American Journalism Review article regarding Senate action on a federal shield law, protecting reporters and journalists from identifying confidential sources in their stories. "Journalists aren't able to look to the courts to help them. It's essential that Congress step in and fill the void." He said in the article. Responding to concerns regarding the bill's language on who would be protected, Tobin added, "People are going to need to make choices. Do we want to forgo protection for the New York Times and Washington Post so that the pajama bloggers can do their thing as well? I think it's a difficult decision because everyone should have the same free speech rights, but as a practical matter we're going to need to do some line drawing to get this legislation passed."