Yesterday, CBS reported on an increasing credibility gap with mainstream media.  While the poll blamed mainstream media for a hoist by their own petards, the Internet is also blamed for the proliferation of misinformation. So, what happens if the Internet is taken away as a weapon of mass persuasion?

The likely answer to the question is why we are calling on all who value freedom of speech to fight against a federal shield law intended to restrict the free flow of information.

Appropriately, on Constitution Day, Thursday, Sept. 17, the Senate Judiciary Committee will discuss, S. 448 - the Free Flow of Information Act. The bill would create a federal shield law that would grant protections to journalists who refuse to reveal confidential sources, even when compelled by a subpoena and the threat of penal action. Currently, journalists and their sources are only protected by privilege statutes or administrative rules in certain states. There is no federal shield law protecting journalists and their sources.

The problem is Speaker Pelosi’s Shut Up Rule which may be included in S. 448 which in essence, limits the protection to the established media, while those outside of it, or even opposed to the sorry state of mainstream media, may be persecuted. The Shut Up Rule puts restrictions on how journalism is defined: In essence, if journalism is a hobby, a public service, a passion a freelancer without a boss or a blogger, then the government reserves the right to force you to tell them where you got any information you publish

Now is the time to act. We  encourage the public  to contact their senators and let them know how important it is for S. 448 to a free press, as long as it does not contain Speaker Pelosi’s Shut Up Rule.

The following is a list of Senate Judiciary Committee members

*Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Ranking Member
*Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.)
*Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)
*Edward Kaufman (D-Del.)
*Richard Durbin (D-Ill.)
*Charles Grassley (R-Iowa)
*Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.)
*Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)
*Al Franken (D-Minn.)
*Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)
*Tom Coburn (R-Okla.)
*Arlen Specter (D-Pa.)
*Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)
*Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
*John Cornyn (R-Texas)
*Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)
*Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman
*Herb Kohl (D-Wis.)
*Russell Feingold (D-Wis.)

For other legislators, click here