Reporters' Shield Law Passes Big in U.S. House but Faces Uphill Battle

A federal shield law for reporters strongly supported by The Newspaper Guild-CWA was passed overwhelmingly by the U.S. House this week, though the bill now faces a divided Senate and a Bush veto threat.

Even top Republican leaders broke with the Bush administration to support the bill, which passed 398-21. Supporters said today's reporters need more protection against federal prosecutors and civil lawyers demanding journalists reveal sources and other background information.

"In the past few years, there have been too many instances where the pendulum has swung against the free flow of information and in favor of the government," House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said on the House floor. "I was troubled by the instances I've seen where reporters have been jailed or threatened with jail for simply protecting their sources."

In a letter to House members last week, TNG-CWA President Linda Foley said the bill, the Free Flow of Information Act, "is a thoughtful, bipartisan and fair piece of legislation" that balances the public's need and right to know against the demands of national security.

"Freedom of the press is a bedrock principle of our democracy." Foley wrote. "Recently too many reporters have been jailed and news services attacked through our legal system in an effort to suppress this important principle. The (bill) creates a national balancing test standard which will aid state attorneys general in deciding which cases are legitimate and which cases are filed with the malicious intent of stifling the voices of reporters who are simply doing their duty of providing news to the public."

The Senate Judiciary Committee passed a similar bill, though with fewer protections, earlier this month. So far, strong opposition from several Republican senators has kept it from a floor vote. Should it pass, President Bush has pledged to veto it, claiming national security interests.