A senior Democrat says there are enough votes in the Senate to pass a bill to protect reporters and the news media from having to reveal confidential sources.
Sen. Chuck Schumer says the bill has support from all Senate Democrats and independents plus five Republicans — enough to overcome any delaying tactics. He says it also has White House support.
The protections would apply to a “covered journalist,” defined as an employee, independent contractor or agent of an entity that disseminates news or information.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill last September.
Schumer spoke Friday at The New York Times’ Sources and Secrets Conference on the press, government and national security.
(AP)
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2 Responses
Hopefully it’ll never get through the House.
That’s important since if a newspaper prints lies about you, they need a shield to keep from getting sued. They just say they were reporting from a “reliable source who must be unnamed”, and they are safe. The fact that the reliable source was the local drunkard reading from a script they gave him is irrelevant.