California's leading federal lawmakers are calling for swift action by Congress on a federal media shield law, saying the threatened jailing of two Chronicle reporters shows that new protections are needed to allow journalists to guard their confidential sources.

"I really support the right of a reporter not to reveal their sources," Boxer said in interview this week. "It will have a chilling effect if people are going to jail for telling the truth.

"In this particular area, the abuse of steroids, it's an enormous threat to the health of our young people. It's a very important story that needs to be told, above and beyond the particular athletes who were named. To me, the value of the story is so that we can really look at the threat to our young people," she said.