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The so-called media shield law approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee Sept. 12 would likely fail to curtail the Obama administration's most controversial legal offensives against reporters, critics and supporters alike say. Furthermore, it's possible courts could also restrict limited reporter protections if the "Free Flow of Information Act" becomes law.

The Senate Judiciary Committee last week approved a new version of the proposed media shield law, forging a compromise on who should be protected from having to reveal their journalistic sources in court. The amended bill, which is now clear to go for a full vote in the Senate, avoids defining who is a "journalist."

Caroline Little, chief executive of the Newspaper Association of America, an organization serving as liaison between a coalition of media outlets and Congressional staffs crafting a federal media shield law, praised Thursday's passing in the the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 13-5.

The Newspaper Association of America applauds the Senate Judiciary Committee for passing this shield law,

SOME GOVERNMENT secrets should remain under wraps. Many others are kept out of view for poor reasons, including extreme caution, rote classification habits and a lack of recognition that withholding information from the public should be an extraordinary practice.

It took the Senate Judiciary Committee 837 words to define a journalist. That's nearly 20 times as long as the First Amendment. The definition has become part of the Free Flow of Information Act of 2013, which passed the committee last week by a vote of 13-5.

Kurt Wimmer, counsel for the Newspaper Association of America, talked about the the Free Flow of Information Act of 2013, being sponsored by bipartisan members of Congress, and he responded to telephone calls and electronic communications. The bill would protect journalists from fines and jail time when they refuse to name confidential sources unless federal officials make their case in court