Support Builds for Shielding Reporters

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON -- Legislation to require prosecutors and judges to meet strict national standards and exhaust other remedies before they could subpoena reporters has both Republicans and Democrats as sponsors in the House and Senate.

Support is building now that several reporters are closer to facing jail, but the Bush administration is silent on the issue and Congress isn't likely to vote on it this year.

"This is a kind of issue that will take a great deal more public attention before it reaches critical mass," said Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, the bill's chief Republican sponsor in the House.

So far, a dozen House members have signed on to Pence's "free flow of information act," which in general would prohibit federal entities from forcing reporters to disclose the identity of a confidential source. A similar measure has four co-sponsors in the Senate.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-press-shield-law,0,2312645.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[Selteri]

1. I don't think in this case I do want them protected.

Thisis a case where reporters _broke the law blatantly_ by outting an active CIA Agent in a very political and dirty move that not only exposed and endangered a real american servant who didn't need to do the job she did, but chose to in order to serve her country.

Under the current laws reporters have a very broad range of protections for informants. In other areas they are not protected enough, most of that being associated to anything to do with 'secrets', which, the identity of an undercover Central Intelligence Agency Operative is classified as.

Defining the law more clearly would be a good thing, so would defining what is published at the truth having a higher standard to live up to would be another one. I don't see it happening and fear sometimes that both parties don't get it that we need press that doesn't endanger real national security but otherwise maintains a truely transparent society, regardless of what the government wants, the goverment is to answer to the people, not the corporations and not itself. The press is supposed to be our magnifying glass, it does not work when it has been dirtied with the mud of lies. The vote is supposed to be our knife to remove from the government that which offends us.

When there are secrets and lies there are conspiracy theories. When those in power dismiss something as a conspiracy theory often there is a kernel of truth to that. Under the blacking out of the information from the government to the news and when the news does not truthfully report information these 'conspiracy theories' grow terrifically in number and intensity, often developing into common theme groups. Communication continues to break down as propoganda proceeds to set in through an inevitable evolution in control following upon the complete breakdown of an honest media.

When this breakdown has occured the people, in so far being the only ones capable of creating the proper level and spark of revolution to bring sufficient attention through some form of grass roots campaign, bringing to thier own media a standard of truth that makes bare the naked truth on all sides must either be developed or the disintigration of society will occur until an outside intervention occurs to allow a society to awaken from it's stupor of ignorance.