Media shield act leaves most bloggers unprotected from government intimidation, moves on to the full Senate

A Conservative Edge

By Sari Horwitz, Thursday, September 12, 1:35 PM E-mail the writer

A Senate panel on Thursday backed legislation that would offer protections to a broad variety of journalists who do not want to divulge their confidential sources of information.The key point of debate over the bill, which was advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 13 to 5 vote, had been the definition of a journalist.

Although some members had pressed for a narrower definition, the version to be debated on the Senate floor will cover journalists who had an “employment relationship” for one year within the past 20 years, or three months within the past five years, and someone with a “substantial track record” of freelancing in the past five years.

Student journalists are covered under the media shield legislation, as are individuals “whom a federal judge has decided should be able to avail him or herself of the…

View original post 196 more words