Los Angeles Times on reporting: The three major candidates for US president now agree that Congress should pass a law allowing reporters to protect their confidential sources. Unfortunately, the current occupant of the White House still resists such legislation, which is why the Senate needs to follow the House in approving the Free Flow of Information Act by a veto-proof margin.

That prospect was enhanced last month when Senator John McCain told newspaper editors that, like Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton he supports a shield law. McCain said such a law “is, frankly, a license to do harm. But it’s also a license to do good”.