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Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, explains in this brief Ted Talk how the federal government uses its electronic surveillance of journalists to crack down on whistleblowers.
Timm made this point during a panel discussion last month in Las Vegas, where Patrick File convened a group of us to talk about Nevada’s shield law and its lack of protection for online journalists.
He said the day may be coming, or already here, when a shield law is irrelevant, because of the ability of government to track down journalists’ private sources without them even knowing.
It’s frightening and not at all far-fetched.