KANSAS -- Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson signed the Kansas House Bill
2585 into law April 15, establishing a shield law that appears to afford
protection to both professional and student journalists.
"It was a great accomplishment ... It's been a long hard road
but [we] finally got it enacted and I think it will pay dividends in the
future," said Sen. Terry Bruce, R-Hutchinson, one of the bill's
supporters.
Shield bills like this one, which Bruce called a "pretty big
legislative accomplishment," allow reporters to protect their confidential
sources, and protect any notes or unpublished materials unless disclosure is
deemed legally necessary.
Prior to this law, Kansas's journalists had been granted
"limited privilege" by state court rulings.
The definition of a journalist written into the bill could include college
and even high school journalists, Bruce said last month. The written definition
includes "a publisher, editor, reporter or other person employed by a newspaper,
magazine, news wire service, television station or radio station who gathers,
receives or processes information for communication to the public," or "an
online journal in the regular business of newsgathering and disseminating news
or information to the public."
The language also defines "acting as a journalist" as being "engaged in
activities that are part of such journalist's gathering, receiving or processing
information for communication to the public."
Last month, a conference committee made of three Kansas state senators and
three representatives agreed on the language of the bill, which then went to
both the Senate and House for votes. The Senate voted 39-1 in favor of the bill,
and the House had only three dissenting votes, Richard Gannon, governmental
affairs director for the Kansas Press Association, said last month.
Gannon said the Kansas Press Association was very pleased with what he
called a "very fair" bill.
"There's a lot of excitement. We're really happy.
We've been fighting for this for a very long time," Gannon
said.
Gannon also said the process of getting this bill passed increased ties
between the press association and the state government.
"We made additional friends up in the Statehouse. It took a lot of
folks to work on this bill and I think we've established some good
relationships. And that's always positive. When you work in a legislative
arena, you can never have too many friends," he said.
By Katie Maloney, SPLC staff writer
