Last week the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Free Flow of Information Act, a bill that allows “anyone associated or once associated with a news-gathering operation — including freelancers, student reporters and bloggers — who is working with the intent to convey information on important matters to the public.”
Although the rights granted by the First Amendment are the “umbrella” that shields the practice of journalism as a whole, the Free Flow of Information Act further defines who benefits from those protections. Identifying who falls under the category of journalist has been an issue of debate as access to the industry exponentially expands, and the role this plays in reporting on the government is often the center of the argument.
T Leverett 2013
A recent article in the Washington Post explains, “When the Obama administration wages an aggressive campaign against leaks or, as in previous administrations, journalists are threatened with or sent to jail because they refuse to give up their sources, people think twice about talking, and reporters are deterred from pursuing their mission. It’s long past time for Congress to pass a law protecting journalists from being forced to disclose information about the sources, methods and content of their reporting to the government.”
According to an article in techdirt, The Free Flow of Information Act defines journalists as, “as someone employed by or in contract with a media outlet for at least one year within the last 20 years or three months within the last five years; someone with a substantial track record of freelancing in the last five years; or a student journalist. In addition, the law would protect a person deemed appropriate by a federal judge, so long as their newsgathering practices have been consistent with the law.”
Although this provides a more defined description of who can be protected by the laws, it raises several questions as to who is not considered a journalist.
Jeanette Noel, a journalism student states, “I think it’s nice that this bill includes students, but what about someone who just started out and somehow had the luck to break a big story? Not likely, but it could happen. Would they be forced to give up a source just because they didn’t have experience? That does not seem like free speech to me at all.”