The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday passed legislation to provide greater protections against reporters being fined or imprisoned if they refuse to identify confidential sources. The bill, the Free Flow of Information Act of 2013, passed by 13 to 5, after lawmakers agreed on an amendment defining who qualifies as a journalist.
The panel rejected amendments from Republicans that would have stripped protections for reporters who reveal classified information, limited the bill’s protections to American members of the news media and exempted grand jury leaks.
Opponents of the bill, like John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, and Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama and the panel’s ranking member, said the bill did not protect national security interests and unconstitutionally allowed the government to decide who is a journalist.
But supporters like Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, and Chuck E. Schumer, Democrat of New York and a co-sponsor of the bill, said it was important to establish parameters for the news media as the Justice Department grapples with leak cases involving journalists from The Associated Press, Fox News and The New York Times.
