What is the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007?
There are currently three active bills introduced that use the phrase “Free Flow of Information Act” in their title, but only H.R. 2102: Free Flow of Information Act of 2007 has been passed by the House. The H.R. 2102: Free Flow of Information Act (FFIA) is still a bill, not a law, but many individual states have already adopted their own shield laws.
If the H.R. 2102 bill becomes law as is, it would be the first federal law to allow a news reporter to refuse to testify about information, or the source(s) of information, gathered in the course of news gathering and news reporting.
As introduced, H.R. 2102 offers the right of refusal to testify about sources, but does not offer total immunity from revealing information. Federal judges would be still be empowered to declare certain news stories as having a public interest based on information that may have been obtained from otherwise confidential sources (including interviews, conversations, and documents) while the reporter was gathering or disseminating news.
The Bush administration has opposed this bill; however, more than fifty media companies have gone on public record in support of the bill.
Does This Bill Address the Rights of All Writers and Reporters?
No. The bill is intended to cover professional journalists; it does not protect non-professional writers, including bloggers, who may discover and report on news topics and individuals.
For example, Suzy Jones has a personal blog on business and politics but she is not a professional or credential journalist or news source. However, she uncovers a corporate scam or political scandal and reports the story on her blog. Even if the story is not deemed to be related to a "public interest," and the H.R. 2102 bill became federal law, it would still be unlikely that Suzy could refuse to reveal her source(s) if she was called to testify in court.
