I just watched a channel called VICE on YouTube where they follow people that make meth and show their lab. I see that VICE have many videos like this where they follow criminals.
Of course the criminals are masked but they still do interviews with them. How can VICE and others who film this stuff not have to report that they know this?
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While there is no federal protection for reporters (thanks to Branzburg v. Hayes) many states have laws or constitutional provisions protecting reporters from having to reveal their sources in court. In such states, a reporter cannot be compelled to testify about the identity of their sources, so the police cannot force them to name any individual in the videos.
In states that do not have such de jure protections, reporters are still often able to get the courts to protect them from testifying, as they argue that it is in the public interest for reporters to be able to research and present stories without having to worry about the saftey of their sources.
There wouldn’t be much point in having a law that said journalists must report criminals to the police or go to prison themselves. Criminals and journalists would stop talking to each other.
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people in general are not required by law to report suspicious or criminal activity that they are witnesses to. It’s purely voluntary. (IANAL and I’m sure there are exceptions, but in general there is not). This applies to reporters as well.
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