Kansas Legislators Approve Journalist Shield Law

The Kansas House has approved a measure

creating a shield law to give legal protection for journalists and

their sources.

The House vote was 116-3 and followed a 39-1 vote earlier

Tuesday evening in the Senate. It goes to Gov. Mark Parkinson for

his signature.

The bill would give journalists limited protection against being

forced to identify anonymous sources or disclose information they

haven’t published or broadcast.

A journalist could be forced to comply with a subpoena only if a

district court judge ruled that the party seeking the information

made a reasonable effort to obtain it some other way.

The Kansas Press Association was the primary supporter of the

bill.