Rubbish. You need to go to jail for aiding and abetting the felon who leaked confidential national security secrets, not be "shielded" from jail because someone pays you to type on a keyboard (i.e. "journalism").
snif..snif..i'm verklempt.
You're absolutely right. First, there is no right to this in law. Other privileges (priest, doctor) are very narrow and come from British common law. Second, there is a very good argument that journalists have no right to confidential sources at all. If nobody goes on the record, then what are you doing printing it? Third, and most importantly, journalists should not be given a shield because they are no better than the rest of us. I'm a journalist here on FR and I should not be entitled to any special benefits.