The Missoulian
June 4, 2006
Excerpt:
It's not about us keeping our reporters out of jail so much as you keeping access to information. [...]
The "Free Flow of Information Act," introduced in the U.S. Senate on
May 18, would do at the federal level what laws in Montana and dozens
of other states do at the state level -- protect reporters from
government coercion to reveal the identity of confidential sources.
This is a moderate bill that balances the public's right to know with
legitimate criminal investigation needs and national security. There's
no blanket immunity for reporters called to testify, and we aren't
arguing there should be. But the legislation at least tries to
differentiate between disclosures that are merely embarrassing or
politically damaging to the government and those that present real and
present dangers to national security. The law also includes a provision
requiring reporters to testify about crimes to which they're a witness
and to reveal sources when, in a judge's opinion, the information is
necessary to prevent death or physical harm.
