[4] Speaking to the Associated Press annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 2008, Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee for president, said "Despite concerns I have about the legislation, I have narrowly decided to support it.
"[5] There are fears, however, that the act may be adopted in such a way as to exclude people who are not "professional" journalists, which would in turn serve to effectively shut down investigative reporting by small and independent media sources.
Ordinary criminal cases would work in a similar fashion, except the burden would be on the reporter seeking to quash the subpoena to show by a "clear and convincing" standard that the public interest in the free flow of information should prevail over the needs of law enforcement.
Judges could not quash a subpoena through a balancing test if prosecutors presented facts showing that the information sought might help prevent a terrorist attack or other acts likely to harm national security.
The legislation would create a presumption that when the government is seeking calling records from a telephone carrier, the news organization would be notified ahead of time, allowing it to fight the subpoena in court.