Republican Representative Daniel Zolnikov is out to protect whistleblowers and the reporters they talk to. Or at least, he’ll try with House Bill 229 at the state Capitol on Thursday.
Zolnikov says the bill would prohibit police from issuing a subpoena to get emails or reporter's notebooks revealing confidential sources.
“They can’t force the press to share who gave you that email, but they can go get the emails. Your emails. The press’s emails. That’s a big loophole.”
John MacDonald is representing the Montana Newspaper Association and said initially, he was worried the bill might weaken the laws in Montana protecting journalists.
“We talked with Representative Zolnikov and expressed that concern to him and then when we saw his bill was very narrowly written and seemed to address an issue that was out there, and so at this point we’re very confident with it.”
This is only one of the many bills Zolnikov plans to propose to protect privacy in Montana