DURHAM, NC (October 12, 2007) - Today the National Press Photographers Association joined with a coalition of news organizations and press freedom groups who sent letters to the members of the United States House of Representatives urging each member to support H.R. 2102, the Free Flow of Information Act, which is scheduled for floor action next Tuesday.
Commonly called the Federal Shield Law, which would protect journalists from being forced in court to reveal their sources, the measure has received broad bipartisan support and has been co-sponsored by 45 Democratic and 26 Republican members of the House.
Today the Rules Committee for the House of Representatives posted notice that it will meet on Monday October 15 at 5 p.m. in H-313 on Capitol Hill to consider H.R. 2102. It will be the first of two bills considered in Rules on Monday. Amendments to the bill have a deadline of 4 p.m. today.
"Your support is essential to ensure that the American people have access to information about their government and the institutions that affect their daily lives," the letter of support says. "Members of Congress from opposite ends of the political spectrum have joined together to support the public's right to have essential information and to protect the whistle-blowers who are sometimes the only way the public can get this information."
A recent brief filed with the United States Supreme Court by a group of 34 state attorneys general pointed out that the lack of a clear standard of federal protection "undermines state law." The District of Columbia and 49 states have either common law or codified protection for confidential sources, today's letter says, "but there is a growing bipartisan acknowledgment that enactment of a federal law is imperative.
"News organizations prefer to have their sources on the record whenever possible," the letter says, "however, history is replete with examples of news articles critical to the national interest that would have never been written had it not been for the protection of confidential sources."
The media companies and news organizations who have come out to support H.R. 2102 are listed here.
"Please contact your representative in the House today and urge them to vote yes on H.R. 2102, the 'Free Flow of Information Act,'" NPPA's general legal counsel Mickey H. Osterreicher said today. "The vote on this important bipartisan legislation will occur next week and your call or eMail will determine the fate of federal shield legislation.
"And contact your member of Congress today and ask them to support H.R. 2102, a bipartisan compromise sponsored by Representatives Conyers, Boucher and Pence. It is imperative Congress hear from the media industry, they respond when constituents call. You can reach your member of Congress through the Capitol switchboard at +1.202.224.3121."
Osterreicher has provided a letter that can be downloaded and used to send via fax or eMail to your representatives (see below).
The Free Flow of Information Act has been amended to address both national security and business concerns. The legislation contains provisions to ensure that the privilege would not prevent law enforcement from preventing acts of terrorism, threats to national security, and death or bodily harm to members of the public. The bill’s sponsors have recently made changes – incorporating language used in the Senate bill that recently passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 15 to 4 vote. The Manager’s Amendment will address Representatives’ concerns about national security, unauthorized disclosures of properly classified information, and the scope of the definition of a journalist. "These changes represent a reasonable and well-balanced compromise," the letter says.
The National Press Photographers Association and its Advocacy Committee urges its members and other concerned journalists to download this Adobe Acrobat .PDF copy of the coalition letter and use it to send to your elected Representative to support passage of the Free Flow of Information Act.
Senate Judiciary Committee Passes Federal Shield Law
