Prospects have brightened for a federal reporter’s shield law that would create a qualified privilege for journalists to refuse to disclose confidential sources. Identical bills (known as the “Free Flow Of Information Act”) were introduced, with bipartisan support, in both the House and the Senate on Wednesday May 2. Notably, the bills use a broad definition of journalism as “gathering, preparing, collecting, photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting, or publishing of news or information that concerns local, national or international events or other matters of public interest for dissemination to the public,” which would likely cover bloggers and reporters for online news sources in addition to established news outlets.

Link: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6438653.html

While the draft legislation contains exemptions where there are privacy, national security, and trade secret concerns, as well as in “ticking bomb” situations, the raising of such concerns would only lead to compelled disclosure if a court held that they outweighed the public interest in unfettered news gathering.

The full text of the bill can be reviewed here:

http://www.boucher.house.gov/images/stories/Boucher/ffia%202007.pdf

Of course, whether this bill, even if passed, could get signed by George Bush is another question. This administration clearly has a pattern of fighting anything that could slow down investigations they deem related to national security, and has been no fan of reporter’s protecting confidential sources. Also, the administration is sure to object to this bill’s loose definition of who is a journalist, arguing that allowing anyone with a web page to avail themselves of such protection could stymie national security investigations at every turn. If this issue proved polarizing enough to prompt a Bush veto, it is unlikely that enough votes to override such a measure could be gathered.

What do you think? Do you support a federal shield law? If so, do you think Congress is being smart in drafting the bill to include Internet based journalists, or would a better strategy be to try to first pass a federal shield law that only applies to journalists for more established news outlets?