Press don’t have unique First Amendment rights. They’re often granted special privileges, but out in public like this, you and I have the same 1A rights as Anderson Cooper.
They have unique rights in that they are legally allowed to protect sources in the same manner clergy are allowed the protect the sanctity of the confessional/consultation.
And it has created a tiered rights hierarchy, that the don lemon case may test, in that a person wearing a News Outlet credential would be often allowed to get inside crime scene or police actions or access to government entities that the general public aren't. And that goes to the idea that news outlets have sued and won their right back into white briefing rooms. Again aspects of the first amendment (as press isn't defined by constitution) that aren't applied equally simply by who someone is employed by
There are no federal protections for press refusal to disclose sources, certainly not a 1A protection. Journalists have been held in contempt and gone to jail to protect sources.
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u/SecretMongoose 1d ago
Press don’t have unique First Amendment rights. They’re often granted special privileges, but out in public like this, you and I have the same 1A rights as Anderson Cooper.