Media Coalition Letter Urges Shield Law Approval

MEDIA COALITION LETTER URGES SHIELD LAW APPROVAL
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher, AUTHOR: Joe Strupp]
A group of 50 media companies and organizations, as varied as News Corporation and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, have penned a letter urging Congress to take up a pair of federal shield law bills and enact them as soon as possible. The letter, signed by a group that includes several newspaper companies such as Hearst Corporation and The New York Times Company, follows last weekend's court ruling ordering a former USA Today reporter to personally pay contempt fines for refusing to reveal confidential sources. In the letter, the signers urged “immediate and favorable” Senate floor consideration of the Free Flow of Information Act (S.2035/H.R. 2102), saying the legislation is “vitally important to the national interest and an informed citizenry,” according to the Newspaper Association of America, which facilitated the message. Both bills have passed through committees, with the House version receiving a full House approval months ago. The Senate version could be reviewed by that governing body if congressional leaders chose to pursue it, NAA contends.
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