Published: July 24, 2008 08:06 pm      

It’s time for Senate to act

Senate leaders ought to allow their colleagues to vote on the Free Flow of Information Act.

The measure, HR 2102, is also known as the federal reporter’s shield law. It was authored by Rep. Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican. Sen. Richard Lugar authored a companion bill in the U.S. Senate, and Sen. Evan Bayh is a co-sponsor.

This measure has already passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 398-21, but time is running out for action in the Senate. If the measure does not win approval before the body adjourns in four weeks, the bill will go back to square one, forced to make its way through the entire legislative process again next year.

Without this protection, reporters will continue to be faced with a choice between going to jail and breaking a promise. The whole idea goes against the very concept of a free and unfettered press.

In the end, though, this bill isn’t about protecting reporters. It’s about protecting you, the public, and your right to know what’s going on in the government your tax dollars support.

Now and then, a courageous public servant will come out publicly to blow the whistle on government wrongdoing or incompetence, but more often than not, these folks want to offer their information anonymously. Folks like Deep Throat of Watergate fame simply won’t come forward without a promise of confidentiality, and reporters should not be required to go to jail to keep those promises.

“Sadly, today the free and independent press in America is under fire,” Pence said in a speech last week on the House floor. “In recent years, more than 40 journalists have been subpoenaed, questioned or held in contempt for failure to reveal their confidential sources.”

The press plays a crucial role as a watchdog on government, Pence said.

“Long ago,” he said, “Thomas Jefferson warned that, ‘Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that limited without danger of losing it.’ Jefferson’s words hold true today, and the passage of the Free Flow of Information Act in this Congress is necessary not only to explicitly and fully provide for the freedom of the press in our nation, but also to protect our liberty for future generations of Americans.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

– Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, and Kokomo Tribune