Free press gets important win

The News Virginian / News Virginian
Published: October 20, 2007

Victories for a free press have been rare since President Bush migrated to Pennsylvania Avenue, but journalists scored a big win Tuesday, when the House overwhelmingly approved a bill extending new protections to reporters and their sources.

The law would for the first time limit the ability of federal authorities to force reporters to testify or reveal documents or unidentified sources. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, is one of the bill's leading backers. Judges can still order disclosure if doing so would prevent an act of terrorism or prove "critical" to a criminal investigation.

The White House contends that the so-called shield law "would produce immediate harm to national security and law enforcement." That argument, given the exceptions included in the bill, is sheer farce promoted by an administration accustomed to operating in the shadows.

National security was not at stake when a federal judge sent New York Times reporter Judith Miller to jail for refusing to disclose the source who leaked the identity of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame. At least four Bush administration officials discussed Plame's identity with reporters. Nor did serious harm result from two San Francisco Chronicle reporters refusing to reveal a source in their investigation of steroid use in Major League Baseball.

A government hell-bent on secrecy stands in defiance of who we are as a country. Plenty of Bush's GOP allies apparently agree. With 176 Republicans joining 222 Democrats in approving passage in the House, the vote far surpasses the two-thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto. Now, the Senate must follow suit.

That not only would allow the light to shine in a White House with too many dark corners, but more to the point, it would give journalists added freedom to do their jobs without fear or threat of legal intimidation.