As a bill that would protect reporters from having to disclose confidential sources inched forward in Congress, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service has published a useful backgrounder. The report, published Oct. 18, 2007, describes the current lack of a "shield law" protecting reporters from legal penalties, including jail, when they refuse prosecutors' requests to disclose the identities of confidential sources.

The House passed a bill creating a limited reporters' privilege Oct. 16, 2007, by an overwhelming bipartisan majority of 398-21. It has not yet reached the Senate floor, and President Bush has threatened to veto it.

• "Journalists' Privilege: Overview of the Law and Legislation in the 109th and 110th Congresses," [2] Congressional Research Service, updated Oct. 18, 2007, by Henry Cohen and Kathleen Ann Ruane (Order Code RL34193).
• Previous Story: WatchDog of Oct. 17, 2007. [3]