Media Miscellany: 07.21.2005

Shield law gets a hearing: The Senate Judiciary Committee “generally positive reception” yesterday to proposed legislation that would shield journalists from divulge confidential sources, but the Justice department thinks near-blanket protection is a bad, bad idea and undercuts the notion of grand jury secrecy. The focus is on concerns with giving journalists too much discretion to keep things secret, not with these confidential sources using the shield law protecting their anonymity to lob salvos at political opponents with relative impunity.