Blog
Palm Beach Post — Shield law still waits
- By: ASNE staff
- On: 08/07/2008 12:54:40
- In: Shield law editorials
The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post
August 05, 2008
Democrats and Republicans left Washington last week, blaming each other for causing the nation's problems. But they failed to pass a bill that would help make public the nation's problems.
That would be a federal shield law fo
The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post
August 05, 2008
Democrats and Republicans left Washington last week, blaming each other for causing the nation's problems. But they failed to pass a bill that would help make public the nation's problems.
That would be a federal shield law for reporters. Like so many bills in Washington, the shield law has been close to passing for many months, but something always comes up. This time, Republicans in the Senate held it hostage to their wish for a vote on the GOP energy plan. President Bush also had criticized the bill, which would protect reporters from having to reveal sources of sensitive information.
In recent years, some of that information has exposed the terrible conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Pentagon's inability to supply soldiers in Iraq with adequately protected vehicles. Even the most press-hating American might acknowledge that reporters are doing a public service when they help the nation's military. If sources know that reporters will protect them, they will reveal more. The more they reveal, the better off the country.