Debating the Shield Law

[Commentary] Both the USA Today and the LA Times printed commentary on the pending federal shield law for journalists called the Free Flow of Information Act. The USAT actually has two dueling banjos -- one calls on Senate majority Leader Harry Rid (D-NV) to bring the measure up for a vote quickly. Mike McConnell, the Director of National Intelligence, counters that the bill would upset the balance established by current law, crippling the government's ability to investigate and prosecute those who harm national security. Scott Gant, a Washington attorney whose practice includes constitutional law, writes in the LATimes "a federal shield law that limits its safeguards in this way promotes a narrow view of the 1st Amendment. The freedom of the press is a right and a privilege that belongs to all of us. And if Congress enacts a shield law, it ought to be one that reflects the reality that we're all capable of being journalists now."