PROTECTION OF JOURNALISTS' SOURCES

EDM number 1720 in 2008-09, proposed by John McDonnell on 22/06/2009.
Categorised under the topics of Data protection, Media and Police.

That this House regrets that many police forces fail to recognise the importance of a journalist's right to protect his or her sources; believes that the protection of confidential sources is internationally recognised as one of the basic principles of press freedom and attempts to force journalists to disclose information to the security services undermine the confidence and candour with which sources will talk to journalists and damages the ability of the press to hold people in positions of power to account; and therefore calls on the Government to issue guidance to police forces across the UK to remind them of the need to respect press freedom.

This motion has been signed by a total of 35 MPs.