On a more serious matter, Kansas legislators should be congratulated on moving forward on a law that would protect reporters from being forced to reveal confidential sources.

The Senate Judiciary Committee gutted a House bill on a different topic and replaced it with a reporter’s shield law, which was passed by the full Senate on Tuesday. The measure now goes to a conference committee and back to the full House to consider its new content and, if substantial changes are made, back to the Senate.

The bill protects reporters from being forced to disclose confidential information or sources except in specific instances where the information can’t be found by other means or is of “compelling interest” in a legal case.

Such measures routinely are labeled as “reporter shield” laws, but their primary importance is in protecting the public’s access to information that reporters wouldn’t be able to obtain if they couldn’t guarantee sources that their identities or certain information would be kept confidential.

Thirty-one states currently have laws that protect journalists from revealing their sources and privileged information. It would be great to see Kansas added to that group by the end of the 2010 legislative session.