Passage of the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007 by the U.S. House of Representatives on a 398 to 21 vote was applauded by more than 50 media companies and organizations Tuesday, according to the Newspaper Association of America.
Passage of the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007 by the U.S. House of Representatives on a 398 to 21 vote was applauded by more than 50 media companies and organizations Tuesday, according to the Newspaper Association of America.
The bill was successful in the House thanks to the leadership of Reps. Rick Boucher, D-Va., Mike Pence, R-Ind., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich.
The federal shield bill seeks to ensure that reporters don’t face federal prosecution for refusing to identify confidential sources except in special circumstances.
According to the NAA, 33 states and the District of Columbia offer some degree of shield law protection, while an additional 16 have seen judicial decisions supporting the safeguarding of confidential sources. At the federal level, however, there is currently no shield law protection, as evidenced by a wave of federal subpoenas that have threatened to (and in some cases actually have) put reporters behind bars.
John F. Sturm, president and CEO of the Newspaper Association of America, issued the following statement on behalf of the media coalition: “The Free Flow of Information Act of 2007 reflects reasonable compromises that address law enforcement and national security concerns while protecting the rights of reporters to safeguard the identity of sources that need to remain confidential. By enacting a federal shield law, the Congress can ensure that all parties n journalists, sources, prosecutors, civil litigants and courts alike n can rely on consistent and well-articulated standards of procedure.”
The bill will now go before the Senate for a vote.
