Biden Administration Won't Say Whether They Support Federal Shield Law For Journalists
In January, the House of Representatives passed a law to protect journalists. How come the White House doesn't want to talk about it?
The White House has refused to say whether President Joe Biden supports a federal shield law for journalists that would protect them from having to reveal their confidential sources.
In January, the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act, or the PRESS Act, passed in the United States House of Representatives.
The legislation would “prohibit the federal government from compelling journalists and providers of telecommunications services to provide information identifying a source or any other record obtained or created by journalists in the course of their work,” according to a House Judiciary Committee report.
Several U.S. news media organizations, like the New York Times and the Washington Post, support the proposed shield law. A coalition of civil liberties, human rights, and press freedom organizations led by the Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) have also backed the legislation.
I support the spirit of this legislation, but my concern is the definition of "journalist." It could be twisted and purposely used to exclude independent media or other individuals who are informing the public. From the bill:
"The term ‘‘covered journalist’’ means a person who regularly gathers, prepares, collects, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports, investigates, or publishes news or information that concerns local, national, or international events or other matters of public interest for dissemination to the public."
In my opinion, journalists shouldn't be a special protected class of people. All individuals should have the same protections.
If you ask the white house we are all criminals now, journalists no longer exist. Except Evan gorshkoprickskie