House passes shield law; White House promises veto

Congress and the Bush administration appeared poised for a showdown over a recently approved federal shield law for journalists.

The House overwhelmingly passed the measure Oct. 16, with 176 Republicans joining almost all the House Democrats on the prevailing side. But at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, the White House issued a statement saying that advisers to President Bush are pushing him to veto the bill because it encourages too many classified leaks.

Media groups have pushed for a federal law to protect journalists from being forced to reveal confidential sources. The House bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, called for reporters still to be forced to reveal information on sources if the information was needed to thwart terrorism or any challenge to national security.

Disclosures also would be mandated in the case of imminent death or bodily harm, revelation of trade secrets, and information pertaining to personal medical and financial records.

However, the White House statement — issued shortly after the vote — said the bill still was too broad. Unless its scope is narrowed, Bush would veto it.

“It is likely that the legislation will encourage more leaks of classified information by giving leakers such a formidable shield behind which they can hide,” read the statement.

The White House also said that the bill, as presently written, “could severely frustrate — and in some cases completely eviscerate — the ability to investigate acts of terrorism or threats to national security.”

The bill now goes to the Senate, where its future is undetermined.

Lucy Dalglish, executive director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of The Press, told Editor & Publisher that the House bill reflected “a lot of compromising.”

She told E&P that the push for the law was prompted in the past three years by more than 40 cases where journalists were asked to identify sources.

Thirty-three states already have shield laws in place. The other 17 — including Virginia — have case law supporting source safeguards.