The Best Way to Protect a Free Press

​In the minds of many Americans, including some in high office, the First Amendment is synonymous only with free speech. It is easy to forget that freedom of speech is only one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First. The others are freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, the right to petition the government… and freedom of the press.
 
Lawyer and legal scholar Floyd Abrams is consulting with historians, media lawyers, and journalists in a Yale Law School project to assess whether one of these freedoms – that of the press – has been protected to the extent that freedom of speech has been. Abrams reports in The Wall Street Journal on many issues we’ve covered, such as reporters being arrested for violating curfews to report on protests and civil unrest, and the exposure of confidential sources “who provide information about government misconduct or other sensitive information.”
 
In his piece, Abrams looks to the Supreme Court to bring the same force and clarity for press freedoms that it has brought to protecting speech overall. We agree and look forward to his forthcoming report. But there is another way forward.
 
This year, for the fourth time, with strong bipartisan support, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the PRESS Act, which shields the confidential sources and notes of reporters from the prying eyes of prosecutors. This bill allows for reasonable exceptions for emergencies. The PRESS Act is now before the U.S. Senate. With a little leadership from the Senate Judiciary Committee, it could be well on its way to becoming the law of the land before the end of the year.
 
So we don’t have to wait for the right cases to appear before the Supreme Court, at least as far as the protection of reporters’ confidential sources are concerned, we can contact our senators now and demand they pass the PRESS Act in the coming lame duck session.