Attempts to pass a federal shield law that would protect journalists from disclosing their sources under threat of arrest or prosecution stalled out this week after a U.S. Senator objected to its passage on supposed national security concerns.
The bill, called the PRESS Act, passed unanimously in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives earlier this year and was set to pass in the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent, which allows a measure to move forward when there is no outward objection to its passing by any member.
However, on Tuesday, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a Republican, said he had concerns that the bill would provide too much protection to journalists who are accomplices in the leaking of classified documents and other sensitive materials.
“Contrary to what members of the press may think, a press badge doesn’t make you better than the rest of America,” Cotton said.
The PRESS Act provided exceptions for matters involving terrorism and other high-level national security concerns. It mirrors shield laws that protect journalists in a number of other states, including California and New York, where police and prosecutors are prevented from threatening arrest or criminal charges against reporters who decline to reveal anonymous sources.
No such shield law exists at the federal level, and there are numerous examples of federal police and prosecutors opening investigations against journalists to try to learn the identities of their sources in high-profile cases involving leaks. In some cases, journalists are subpoenaed to court and ordered to reveal the identity of their sources and, in a few instances, reporters have served jail time when they refuse to comply.
Law enforcement officials usually say the focus of their investigations are on those who provide reporters classified source material, not the journalists themselves. But press freedom groups and other advocates say those promises do not go far enough, pointing to examples where journalists have been targeted and threatened by police.
The PRESS Act was meant to ensure police and prosecutors couldn’t shift their investigations away from sources to journalists simply for reporting matters of national interest or which otherwise might embarrass government agencies and officials.
News organizations are particularly worried about the potential for retribution by President-elect Donald Trump when he takes office in January. During his first and second presidential campaigns, Trump repeatedly targeted specific news outlets and the media in general, accusing journalists of scrutinizing him at a higher level than his opponents and vowing to hold them accountable for spreading what he considers to be false information.
After Trump’s victory in November, news organizations and their advocacy groups made a more-concerted effort for the passage of the PRESS Act. Cotton’s opposition this week is a major setback to that effort, but it could still pass if it is attached to a federal appropriations bill that is up for consideration, or if lawmakers agree to bring it to a vote before the end of their current session.
