May 8th, 2007
Proposed federal shield for reporters now includes bloggers
A bill to create a federal reporter's shield was amended recently to include coverage for bloggers, Ars Technica reports.
Instead of requiring journalists to be tied to a news organization, the bill now defines "journalism" to focus more on the function of the job: "the gathering, preparing, collecting, photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting, or publishing of news or information that concerns local, national, or international events or other matters of public interest for dissemination to the public."
That's a pretty broad definition, certainly broader than most of the state shield laws. California's law, for instance, says it protects journalists working for newspapers, broadcast outlets and wire services. But in Apple v Does, the California Court of Appeals ruled that the state's shield law also protects bloggers.
The Free Flow of Information Act was reworked after its introduction with the specific intent of including bloggers under the broader definition of journalism. According to a section-by-section analysis of the bill, "The act would apply to web logs ('blogs') that engage in journalism." Although the law is not likely meant to include every person who writes on the Internet, it doesn't create a litmus test for what constitutes "engaging in journalism."Under the wording of the bill, journalists are protected from divulging their sources for news stories except in cases where there is imminent harm to national security, imminent death or significant bodily harm involved, a trade secret "of significant value in violation of State or Federal law," individually identifiable health information, and in instances where "nondisclosure of the information would be contrary to the public interest."
Numerous attempts to pass a federal shield have failed in the past, but with a Democratic Congress and heavy lobbying by press organizations, hopes are high this year.
"The bill is a carefully constructed measure which will provide a broad new and much needed privilege for reporters to refrain from revealing confidential sources," said Rep. Rick Boucher in a statement. "Given the broad bipartisan support this measure enjoys, I am optimistic that it will be reported by the Judiciary Committee and passed by the House this year."
