House Passes Bill Shielding Journalists, Some Bloggers in Court

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 17, 2007 - 11:14am.

Washington - The U.S. House on Tuesday passed a bill that would shield journalists and bloggers from having to identify their confidential sources in the course of federal investigations, CNET News.com reported.

The Free Flow of Information Act, sponsored by Reps. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.), includes an amendment that stipulates that bloggers covered by the bill post "regularly," and derive "a substantial portion" of their livelihoods from their blogging.

"Freedom of the press protected by the First Amendment has been a cornerstone of our democracy, one that we cherish and promote around the world," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said before the vote.

"The essential work of the press has been severely hampered by a lack of federal standard."

The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a similar version of the bill.

However, the Justice Department opposes the proposed "shield law," and the Bush administration has threatened a veto.

They say such a law would impede law enforcement and anti-terrorism efforts.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.02102: