Administration, senators, journalism groups agree on shield law to protect confidential sources

The Obama administration, journalism groups and key senators in both parties have agreed on who and what would be protected under a federal shield law now awaiting a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The law would protect journalists who refuse to reveal their sources unless the information is necessary to protect national security interests or federal criminal prosecutions, Walter Pincus of The Washington Post reports. New York Democrat Charles E. Schumer, one of the bill's sponsors, said in a statement that the new version "preserves a strong protection for reporters interested in protecting their sources, while also making sure that the government can still do the job of protecting its citizens."

President Obama said he favored a federal shield law during his campaign, but once in office his lieutenants said national-security cases should be exempt from any judicial balancing test between the public's right to know and potential damage to national security. The compromise bill says that to avoid such a test, the government must "show that disclosure of a source of information is necessary to prevent or mitigate a terrorist act or identify a perpetrator," Pincus reports. In criminal investigations, the government must show "by the preponderance of evidence" that information is likely to harm national security. The compromise also expands protection from journalists who have contract with a news organization to anyone whose primary intent is "to disseminate to the public news," the functional test that was an article of faith for many journalism groups. (Read more)

The Society of Professional Journalists said the new version of S. 448 is not perfect, but endorsed it, citing the protection it would provide to the 8,000-plus SPJ members. "As one of the largest journalism organizations in the country, and with the most potentially affected by federal shield law protection, we are not where we had hoped to be with this legislation," SPJ President Kevin Smith said. "However, after meticulously and attentively deliberating the language of the new bill and vetting it via counsel and the SPJ Government Relations Committee in order to completely understand the impact of the legislation, SPJ is supporting this latest compromise." Al Cross, publisher of The Rural Blog and director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, is a member of the committee and a former SPJ president.