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Star Tribune — Editorial voices: Congress must pass a shield law for journalists, and public, now

Star Tribune, Minneapolis
July 27, 2008

The great swinging pendulum of press liberty and government secrecy has lurched too far in one direction. It is time for a correction. Congress should pass and President Bush should sign a reasonable, measured shield law to push the pe

Star Tribune, Minneapolis
July 27, 2008

The great swinging pendulum of press liberty and government secrecy has lurched too far in one direction. It is time for a correction. Congress should pass and President Bush should sign a reasonable, measured shield law to push the pendulum back in the direction of the First Amendment and the legitimate powers of the Fourth Estate.

A sound shield law guards not “the media” but something much more vital -- the public's right to know. Guarding that right often requires confidential sources deep inside government. A measured law would not shield sources who perpetrate demonstrable and articulable harm to the country's national-security interests. But it would rightly shield most others. Such a bill awaits Senate action now. It should be passed. ...

More than three-quarters of the nation's attorneys general have called for the passage of a federal shield law. Attorney General Michael Mukasey opposes it on national security grounds. Mr. Bush has previously threatened a veto. It is time to let this pendulum swing back.

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