'If You Can Keep It': The Press And The PRESS Act

1A

NPR

News

4.4 • 4.3K Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2024

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A bill to protect journalists in their work has long had strong bipartisan support.

The "Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act," or PRESS Act, would shield journalists from government surveillance and from being forced to reveal confidential sources. It was first introduced in June 2021 and was reintroduced in 2023. It's passed the House twice but languished in the Senate.

President-elect Donald Trump has of course had a tumultuous relationship with journalists. Last month, Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, writing that, "REPUBLICANS MUST KILL THIS BILL."

Now, the PRESS Act is running out of time to pass before the end of the lame duck session. We discuss why press advocates say this legislation is urgent, and what comes next for the bill.

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theshmit.org. You're listening to the 1A podcast. I'm Jen White.
0:24.8	And I'm Todd Zwillick. In this week's installment of our weekly series, If You Can Keep It,
0:29.2	we're talking about protections for journalists.
0:31.7	Specifically, the protect reporters from exploitative state spying act or press act.
0:36.6	It's a bill that would shield journalists
0:38.3	from government surveillance and from being forced to reveal confidential sources. It was first
0:43.6	introduced in June 2021 and reintroduced in 2023. It's passed the House twice, but languished in
0:49.8	the Senate. Advocates say it's more urgent than ever. In a dangerous moment for journalists in the United
0:54.9	States, according to data from the press freedom tracker, as of September 2024, assaults on
1:00.6	journalists in the U.S., related to their reporting, is up more than 50 percent compared to
1:05.5	2023. Here's Jody Ginsburg, head of the Committee to Protect Journalists, last month on PBS NewsHour.
1:11.4	We know that Trump is interested in going after whistleblowers, people who leak,
1:15.9	and it's absolutely essential that they are protected and that journalists' sources are protected
1:20.5	and that journalists are allowed to do their job.
1:23.1	Now, President-elect Trump in his first term did go after journalists who reported on an apparent Russian hack of Hillary Clinton's emails.
1:31.7	And since then, he's targeted journalists and made his enemy of the people slogan a central message of his politics.
1:38.6	Well, last month, Trump posted that very PBS interview that we just mentioned on truth social, saying, quote, Republicans must kill this bill, referring to the press act.
1:48.5	Now the press act is running out of time to pass before the end of the lame duck session.
1:53.4	Why are press advocates saying this legislation is urgent and what comes next?
1:57.8	We get into all of it with our guests after the break. Stay with us.
2:10.8	This message comes from Wise, the app for doing things in other currencies. Send, spend,
2:15.4	or receive money internationally, and always get the real-time mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Download the Wise app today or visit wise.com
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.