MNSPJ defends KSTP First Amendment rights, urges UofM to drop confidential source inquiry

The Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists defends the right of KSTP-TV and its journalists to pursue the truth and report it. In that pursuit, KSTP has relied on confidential sources to shine a light on sexual harassment allegations at the University of Minnesota. Minnesota law protects the rights of journalists to keep their sources confidential as part of the Free Flow of Information Act.

The university’s investigation to seek the identity of the confidential source goes against the spirit of the Free Flow of Information Act and will have a chilling effect on those whistleblowers who seek to expose wrongdoing and those journalists who report it.

We urge the university to drop its investigation of KSTP’s confidential sources, abide by the spirit of the Free Flow of Information Act and concentrate on the serious problems of sexual harassment allegations at the University of Minnesota.

Joe Spear, board secretary
with
Ben Garvin, MNSPJ president
Jenna Ross, president elect

For media inquiries, contact Joe Spear at (507) 317- 8073