The federal reporter's shield law, formally known as the Free Flow of Information Act, continues to move forward and could be voted on this Thursday, Sept. 17. After the House version, HR 985, passed the entire House of Representatives by unanimous consent in late March, we expected that the Senate Judiciary Committee would take up the issue, either by addressing the House bill or its Senate counterpart, S 448, around July 4. We reached out to ASNE members and you responded with plenty of editorials and even some direct contact with senators. But, despite our triumphant predictions of a quick and favorable vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee during July, no vote (or hearing) was held before the August recess.

The lack of a vote was largely due to negotiations between our coalition of media organizations and companies, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the administration. While the administration supports the idea of a shield law, it has raised several issues surrounding potential impact the bill will have on national security. These were largely generated by career employees from intelligence agencies such as the FBI and CIA, so both the administration and Senate Judiciary Committee have placed significant value in exploring how they can resolve the concerns.

Please see the most recent member alert about the upcoming vote. You can also find a substantial amount of background information on S 448, HR 985 and the history of this fight on the ASNE Free Flow of Information Act home page. You can also contact ASNE Legal Counsel Kevin M. Goldberg (ph: 703-812-0462) if you have other questions.