Nieman Fellows Denounce Press Law

Three Nieman Fellows said last night that they oppose passage of Federal laws protecting newsmen who refuse to reveal confidential sources.

Carl Sims, editor of The Bay State Banner, told the Cambridge Forum that the Constitution prohibits the passage of "any law" regarding the freedom of the press. If Congress assumes the power to grant rights to the press, he said, it may later assume the power to take away those rights.

Congress is now considering several shield laws to prohibit government agencies from subpoenaing the confidential notes of journalists.

"We would rather rely on the First Amendment [than shield laws]," Peter Jay '62, a correspondent for The Washington Post, said. Although recent court decisions have eroded the rights of the press, the U.S. still has a "far freer press than any other country in the world," he said.

Sims, Jay and Edwin Williams, Capital reporter for the Greenville, Miss., Delta Democrat Times, supported the formation of a National Press Council to act as a watchdog for the news industry. Williams explained that the Council would near complaints of individuals against the national news media and would consider issues relating to the freedom of the press.

The Fellows, who spoke about the future of newspaper reporting, are on a year's leave of absence from their papers to study at Harvard