Booksellers Host Thought-Provoking Discussions on Confidential Sources

Arundel Books, Prince Books, King's Books, The Drama Book Shop, and Book Nook Bookstore each recently partnered with the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), working with the MLRC Institute, to create panel events featuring lawyers and reporters who have worked on significant First Amendment cases or stories based on confidential sources. The turnout, extensive media coverage, and caliber of the panelists that Arundel Books in Seattle was able to host left owner Phil Bevis feeling "pretty astonished."

Arundel's event, which was televised on the Washington State Public Affairs TV Network, was titled "Shining a Light on Reporters and the Law." Along with other First Amendment issues, the panelists discussed a recently passed Washington State reporter shield law, proposed and supported by State Attorney General Rob McKenna. Speakers included McKenna, Seattle Times Publisher Frank Blethen, U.S. Representative Dave Reichert, and several reporters.

"The folks [who came to the event] were all people who influence opinion in one way or another," said Bevis, "people from various local associations, and congressional and state staffers."

Speaking from experience, Bevis underscored that laws affecting reporters can also directly affect booksellers. In August 2001, when the Justice Department obtained the home telephone records of an Associated Press reporter covering the federal investigation of then-U.S. senator Robert G. Torricelli (D-NJ), investigators also served a subpoena on Arundel. "They were looking into the reading habits of the senator," said Bevis. "So, I've seen firsthand how subpoenas that affect reporters can affect booksellers as well. Every bookseller in this country should be aware of that."

Waging a national campaign on any issue of importance to booksellers is rooted in events on a local level, said Bevis. "If we can point lawmakers to examples of these events, and say here's one event of 50 like it, we can really leverage our collective power. We're not the NRA, so we're not going to get four million people to melt down a representative's switchboard, but we can get lawmakers to respect our concerns, especially when they're firmly grounded in constitutional principles."

At King's Books in Tacoma, Washington, David Zeeck, executive editor of The News Tribune, and Eric Stahl, a media and copyright lawyer and partner at the law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine in Seattle, discussed the limited protections afforded to reporters, since without a national reporters shield law, interpretation of Freedom of the Press varies from state to state.

The event was "really awesome," said store events coodinator Sweet Pea Flaherty. "The audience was really interested in the topic. Both Eric and David gave an intro to the issue, and we went into a discussion that lasted over an hour."

Flaherty noted that King's Books has built up an appreciative audience for its free speech events by sometimes partnering with ACLU and hosting yearly Banned Books Week celebrations.

For its recent event, Prince Books in Norfolk, Virginia, hosted a discussion between Mike Mather, an investigative reporter who has written for the New York Times, and Conrad Shumadine, who has handled First Amendment cases for NBC, ABC, community newspapers, publishers, and individuals. 

Prince Books owner Sarah Pishko told BTW that she found the subject well worth attention. "The attorney said that this administration is by far the most secretive in history. The administration's efforts to [establish the identity of] sources have caused a lot of people to not talk to reporters, even off the record. Mather said that it's almost impossible to find people to talk to him."

At The Drama Book Shop in New York City, more than 30 people attended an afternoon event featuring journalist Norman Green, a producer and director of numerous documentary films for MTV and others, and Kathleen Conkey, an attorney with the law firm of Jacobs deBrauwere.

Book Nook Bookstore in Hyattsville, Maryland, featured Peter Siegel, the Pentagon correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, and Mark I. Bailen, a former television producer who is now an attorney with Baker and Hostetler in Washington.

A dozen other bookstores across the country are slated to host similar events over the next several months. Seventeen bookstores participated in a similar program in 2006.

This week, ABFFE announced that together with MLRC Institute it was co-sponsoring a new program that will bring reporters to bookstores around the country to discuss how the Internet is changing the practice of journalism. (See related story.)

Booksellers interested in participating in either the current or upcoming program should contact ABFFE President Chris Finan at [email protected] or (212) 587-4025, ext. 15. To learn more about resources available to celebrate Banned Books Week, visit ABFFE.com. --Karen Schechner