Shield Law 'Riddled' With Criticism

While the Senate waited to take up the budget, the House this morning sped ahead by passing House Bill 670, a journalism shield law, 146-2. Seems the press may need a shield, what with Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, taking pot-shots.

The actual bill as passed is not that strong (as arguably shown by the prosecutors for Bexar, Brazoria and Collin counties switching from "against" to "for.") It provides qualified protection, subject to judicial review, and journalists still have to come forward with evidence about felonies. It's really a whistle-blower protection (which is arguably the key purpose of such a law) and interestingly does add protections for bloggers that derive a substantial proportion of their income from news-gathering.

That it's a prosecutor-friendly compromise wasn't enough to placate Riddle, (along with freshman Rep. Randy Weber, R-Pearland, the sole nay votes on the bill) who complained that journalists would have more legal protection than the pope. She then said that she and her voters were concerned about "how they consider journalists and their veracity, giving them a special privilege that would go over and above other well-respected people in the community."

Well, at least she said that we're well-respected.