On Tuesday, October 16, 2007, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed new legislation to protect journalists and their confidential sources. The bill was passed with bipartisan support in a 398 to 21 vote, which is far more than needed to override a veto threatened by President Bush. Recently, several high-profile cases involving journalists faced jail time if they did not reveal confidential sources. Although more than 30 states have shield laws to protect journalists in state courts, up until this point there was no protection for journalists at the federal level. The fight for a federal shield law has been on going for 30-years by media organizations to protect journalists from being forced to disclose sources in federal court. Clint Brewer, President of the Society f Professional Journalists said “today’s vote in the House is a victory for a free press and for the American people as much as journalists.” (According to the New York Times) I personally feel that this was a great step in the right direction for protecting journalists. I could not be happier that bipartisanship took place and protection for journalists was the result. Not to get too political but I feel that President Bush was going to veto the bill mainly because he is or could be scared of the skeletons in his closet. With this bill passing the House, all it has to do is pass the Senate and it will become law. With this Bush and other political figures could have many skeletons in their closet coming out to say, “boo.”
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Yes, he's been working hard at stuffing those skeletons back into the closet, hasn't he?
A couple minor fixes:
...several high-profile cases involved journalists who faced jail time...
Clint Brewer, president of the Society of Professional Journalists, quoted in the New York Times, said, “Today’s vote in the House is a victory for a free press and for the American people as much as journalists.”
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