Senate blocks bipartisan bill with increased protections for journalists

A measure strengthening protections for journalists failed to pass in the Senate on Tuesday after GOP Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., blocked the bill. The Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act, known as the PRESS Act, aimed to shield journalists against government seizure of research and third-party data. The bipartisan bill would also stop the government from forcing journalists to expose their sources, with exceptions related to terror threats or other concerns of violence.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., proposed the Tuesday vote and noted that prominent conservative media figure Tucker Carlson supports the measure. Both Democrats and Republicans have abused the weak legal protections for ethical journalists who protect their sources, making this measure long overdue, Wyden argued. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the bill very important, adding that members of the incoming administration have repeatedly threatened to target journalists. The measure passed in the House of Representatives earlier this year before President-elect Donald Trump called on Republicans to vote down the measure when it came to the floor.

Why were some Republicans against the bill? Sen. Cotton argued that the bill would give journalists too much protection and allow them to obtain and publish classified material with no legal consequences. Lawmakers would be accomplices to traitors leaking deep-state secrets aided by fame-hungry journalists if this bill became law, Cotton alleged. He also voiced concern that the wider protections would embolden any leaker to share any information ranging from nuclear weapons locations to White House phone records.

How are advocates responding after the measure failed? Wyden vowed to continue pushing for the bill’s passage despite the blocked vote. Journalism advocates have also chimed in support of the measure. The Freedom of the Press Foundation called on Schumer to make a concerted effort to pass the bill before the sitting Congress adjourns. Attach the measure to a year-end legislative package even if it means legislators have a shorter holiday break, the foundation’s director of advocacy, Seth Stern, argued.