NAA Pushes For Senate Shield Law

The Newspaper Association of America is urging the Senate to bring a shield law bill to the floor for a vote after the Supreme Court declined to review New York Times' journalist James Risen's appeal of a court ruling that he had no right to refuse to reveal confidential sources.

The Free Flow of Information Act has twice passed the House, only to get bogged down in the Senate. But a Senate version passed out of the Judiciary committee for the first time last fall in the shadow of the NSA information-gathering revelation, attendant WikiLeaks government data drops and Justice's subpoenas of reporter phone records, leading to hope that a federal shield law -- to match that in 49 states -- might finally pass.

The Free Flow of Information Act (S.987) is sponsored by Sens Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and was pushed for years by the late Pennsylvania Republican (and former Democratic) Senator Arlen Specter. It would protect reporters from being forced to identify sources by overzealous government officials, with carve-outs for national security, imminent threat of death or bodily harm, destruction of critical infrastructure, and other special circumstances. The bill also covers government efforts to obtain information from Internet service providers or ISPs.