Journalism is having a tough enough time as it is without the kick in the gut the profession sustained when UNC-TV management rolled over and complied with a subpoena issued by a state Senate judiciary panel.
The move potentially killed serious journalism for North Carolina public television and public radio.
UNC-TV General Manager Tom Howe had two choices. He could have guarded the integrity of his news operation by claiming protection under North Carolina's shield law and refusing to turn over unaired material on Alcoa's Yadkin River Dam. Instead, Howe agreed with the characterization that, as a state agency (the network's license is held by the UNC Board of Governors), UNC-TV's reporters have no more claim to First Amendment protections than do the public information specialists who tout the State Fair.
Granted, the near-term ramifications of Howe's decision for UNC-TV will probably be negligible. The network has produced scant hard-hitting journalism lately. That's not a criticism, just an observation. Howe is given wide latitude to execute UNC-TV's public obligations.
Much more important is that the decision hamstrings any future general manager who would like UNC-TV to engage in investigative journalism or journalistic public affairs programming in the tradition of WGBH in Boston, KQED in San Francisco or WNET of New York.
Consider the difficulty in recruiting a top-notch investigative reporter. That person would know that his or her journalistic work product would have no more protection from the prying eyes of legislators than an e-mail announcing vacation days.
Conversely, from now on, any source who deals with a UNC-TV reporter does so knowing that any material the network gathers could ultimately be exposed at a hearing by any legislator inclined to go on a fishing expedition.
The most significant impact of UNC-TV's decision to surrender journalistic protections will probably fall on North Carolina public radio, particularly WUNC-FM.
That station has one of the better broadcast newsrooms in the state. It pains me to say that WUNC-FM beat out the three news radio operations I oversee to win the Associated Press 2009 Outstanding News Operation Award. Selfishly, I can rationalize that award away by theorizing that it was bestowed by tree-hugging, NPR-types in Minnesota (AP awards are judged by out-of-state panels. As a matter of disclosure, I am a member of AP's broadcast board of directors).
But there is no way to diminish the top-flight, award-winning reporting of WUNC's Laura Leslie in her story "Hog Farm Rules" and Rose Hoban's work in "Problems in the State Health Plan." Thanks to UNC-TV's decision, the notes and unaired recordings Leslie and Hoban gathered in compiling those stories are now subject to a General Assembly's subpoena.
UNC-TV's appearance before the Senate judiciary's committee Tuesday essentially transformed public television and radio reporters into investigative agents for the state. That should send cold shivers up the spine of every citizen who believes that reporters should be governmental watchdogs, not potential lapdogs.
Serious journalism won't die should the news departments of public radio and television stations surrender their independence. But an important style of journalism will. More than any medium, public broadcasting gives it reporters the luxury of time, reflection and the exploration of nuance. Should public broadcasting reporting become extinct, journalism and citizens will be worse off.
That's why the first order of business of the 2011 General Assembly should be to extend First Amendment rights and state shield law protection under G.S. 8-53.11 to public broadcasting television and radio reporters.
The judiciary committee chairman, Sen. Fletcher L. Hartsell Jr., would be the perfect sponsor. He has considerable expertise, since he helped draft the state's shield law in 1999. Sponsorship would also allow him to atone for the journalistic degradation he caused by issuing the UNC-TV subpoenas in the first place.
