Media Law Partner Bruce Brown spoke at the inaugural Thomas Jefferson Symposium, “Disclosure, Anonymity, and the First Amendment,” held at the University of Virginia School of Law on October 29.
Brown, a former journalist who co-teaches the Law School's First Amendment Clinic, presented his keynote address after an introduction by fellow Baker Hostetler, Media Law Partner Bruce Sanford. Brown’s address began with a focus on the usage of the word “leaks,” explaining that it’s not very useful in describing “the texture of the complicated relationship between reporters and sources” and is also “not very helpful in appreciating how valuable those relationships are to all Americans.”
Brown went on to demonstrate that for the last 100 years, courts have gradually recognized a right for the press to protect confidential sources, but that today, “The reporter’s privilege is now a disfavored body of law.” He cited the argument for revealing anonymous sources when involving national security in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, in addition to the impact discredited journalists such as former Washington Post reporter Janet Cooke, who was accused of fabricating stories that relied heavily on supposed anonymous sources, have on the word “leaks” and its current negative connotation.
However, the news hasn’t been all bad in the past 20 years for journalists and media outlets in regards to anonymity, Brown said in his speech. He noted Baker Hostetler’s successful defense of a newsletter publisher who wished to keep a subscriber list private from a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation surrounding a stock tip.
In addition to Brown’s address, the symposium included two panels of legal scholars, one on disclosure laws and the Constitution and the other on disclosure and the political process. The symposium was made possible by support from Baker Hostetler and the Scripps Howard Foundation.