Despite the complaints of blogger-critics, new federal shield bill is last best chance for meaningful protection of reporters’ confidential sources.
For the first time since the post-Watergate era, the stars are aligned for Congress to enact–and for the President to sign–a “Shield Law” that would provide meaningful protection against the forced-exposure of journalists’ confidential sources. Although nearly all states have shield laws, they do not apply to the subpoenas of federal courts and federal grand juries: a big gap in coverage that inevitably restricts news reporting on controversial matters involving the federal government. News of