WASHINGTON — The House on Tuesday strongly backed the right of reporters to protect the confidentiality of sources in most federal court cases, saying that right was crucial to a free and effective press. The White House, warning that the media shield bill would encourage leaks of classified information, threatened a veto.
Under legislation that passed 398-21, reporters could still be compelled to disclose information on sources if that information is needed to prevent acts of terrorism or harm to the national security.
That wasn’t enough for the White House, which said the privileges given to reporters “could severely frustrate – and in some cases completely eviscerate – the ability to investigate acts of terrorism or threats to national security.”
Advocates of press freedom have pushed the issue this year in the wake of several high-profile cases, including subpoenas for reporters to testify about the leak of a CIA operative’s identity.
Supporters pointed to press reports on Abu Ghraib, clandestine CIA prisons and shoddy conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as examples where source confidentiality was crucial.
“Freedom of the press is fundamental to our democracy, and it is fundamental to our security,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
More than 50 news outlets, including The Associated Press, support the bill, which faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., a conservative who co-sponsored the bill with Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., said, “I believe the only check on government power in real time is a free and independent press.”
The act, he said, “is not about protecting reporters, it’s about protecting the public’s right to know.”
The Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence are on record as opposing the legislation, saying it would make it nearly impossible to enforce federal laws pertaining to the unauthorized release of classified information.
The Justice Department also said the bill’s definition of who is a journalist is too broad.
A similar bill by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee this month, but it’s uncertain if the full Senate will take it up in the final legislative weeks of this year.
