WASHINGTON - Here, in the grandest of America's great cities, the stone buildings stand for the strength of our country.

It is impossible not to be awed by the scale of the avenues. But there's also something troubling in the air, and no, it's not the division over the war in Iraq or the actions of the attorney general. It's what I heard described as a "cloak of secrecy" that has settled like a blanket over our government.

At a meeting this week of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, esteemed journalist John Seigenthaler talked of his 58 years in the business and how in the course of 10 presidencies and numerous crises he'd never seen the tension between government and the press be more intense.

He reminded editors that Alexander Hamilton said that freedom of the press depends on supportive public opinion and the general spirit of the people and the government. At this time, our challenge, Seigenthaler said, is that the people are not on our side.

In part, that is because of credibility problems, something many are making efforts to address. But perhaps it's also because some people don't see why reducing the free flow of information hurts them.

Now you might think that this is a liberal issue, a blue issue, a Democratic issue at a time when a Republican administration is on the defensive. But editors heard support for a federal shield law for journalists from two Republicans, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., and Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., along with Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va. Even if you're dubious of Specter's conservative credentials, the same can't be said of Pence, who describes himself on his Web site as "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order."

"This is not about protecting reporters," Pence told the editors. "This is about protecting the public's right to know. As a conservative, I believe the only check on government power in real time is a free and independent press."

Nearly all states have a law giving reporters some protection from having to reveal their sources. But there is no such federal law.

The subject is in the forefront of many journalists' minds now because we've seen reporters jailed for refusing to reveal confidential sources and forced to testify with the threat of jail. This can have a chilling effect on the press's ability to report the news.

No, the idea isn't for reporters to have an absolute privilege not to reveal their sources, but the standard for forcing testimony should be high. The Society of Professional Journalists, on its Web site, says there needs to be a "balance between the need to protect the free flow of information to the public through a free press and the need to ensure the fair administration of justice and effective law enforcement."

Congress needs to "make sure that people on the inside (of government) feel confident that in an act of public conscience they can pick up a phone and say, 'I have information you need,' " Boucher said.

The words of the First Amendment already give journalists great latitude in their work: "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press."

But today many of us believe that it would be in the interest of our democracy for reporters to have more specific protection.

The value of stories based on anonymous sources almost always outweighs the need for the government to discover those sources, with some national security and other exceptions, such as when a journalist is the eyewitness to a crime.

I can assure you we don't use anonymous sources lightly. Here's a portion of the Rocky's policy: "A reporter's goal is to obtain information on the record. Anonymous sources should be used only as a last resort and under circumstances in which the information is deemed to be essential to the story and the source is considered to be reliable."

Giving journalists a shield law would do more to bolster our strength as a nation than laying another stone foundation in this great capital.

I hope in the coming months the public spirit finds itself drawn to the same view.

John Temple can be reached at editor@RockyMountainNews.com or by mail at 101 W. Colfax, Suite 500, Denver, CO 80202.