Dallas Morning News — The free flow of information

• By: ASNE staff
• On: 05/08/2008 11:41:42
• In: Shield law editorials

The Dallas Morning News
April 20, 2008

An unlikely thing happened last week on the road to the White House: The three major presidential contenders agreed on a touchy issue that bridges the First Amendment and national security.

The Senate has been procrastinating on a vote for the Free Flow of Information Act, which would offer important limited protection to journalists under pressure to reveal confidential sources. It was welcome news that all three senators on the campaign trail voiced their support.

Especially significant was the endorsement of Sen. John McCain, a Republican with a bounty of national security credentials. Addressing criticism that the bill could jeopardize security interests, Mr. McCain said that risk is outweighed by the benefits of a free press serving as a conduit for insiders with information on government misbehavior.

Mr. McCain is joined in his support by Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. We encourage Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a key negotiator on the bill, to add his name to that list. Mr. Cornyn would be an important ally, since he has fought for years on behalf of the public's right to access government records.

Critics of the Free Flow bill have legitimate concerns that it could encourage the theft of sensitive information and shield terrorists or intermittent bloggers who seek protection as journalists. The bill, however, provides for court intervention in disputes involving national security.

As for the definition of who merits protection as a journalist, Mr. Cornyn and other key Senate negotiators must find the type of compromise language that most states have adopted in laws that protect the identity of whistle-blowers.

The Free Flow bill passed the House overwhelmingly and a Senate committee last fall. A vote is overdue in the Senate.

Passage could help prevent the type of government heavy-handedness illustrated by $5,000-a-day fines that a judge levied in February against former USA Today reporter Toni Locy. She had refused to divulge the names of confidential sources for articles on the 2001 anthrax attacks. The judge said she would have to pay the fines personally, with no outside help.

Decisions like these squelch the kind of insider information that the public would want about liars, cheats and thieves in the government.