I don't think it's quite clear to me...okay, they're trying to define who is a journalist, so they can be "shielded", but what is this shield? What is this "privilege" spoken of? Are non-journalists not permitted to gather and release information, or something?

I'm slightly ashamed of my ignorance here, but please enlighten me.
overgrowthegovt Reviewed by overgrowthegovt on . Bloggers are not journalists, according to Senate bill The question of what makes a journalist is due for yet another round of debate, now that Congress is weighing two competing versions of a federal shield law for reporters. Last Friday, the Senate introduced its own version of the Free Flow of Information Act, a follow-up to the House's action two days before. Both versions would provide new -- if limited -- protection against subpoenas for journalists, and both version contain a range of exceptions. Both bills were introduced in 2007 as Rating: 5