This legislation amends title 18 of the United States Code to establish a new federal offense for assault against journalists. It defines a journalist as an individual engaged in newsgathering for an entity that disseminates news, and newsgathering as the regular process of collecting and reporting on matters of public interest. The bill aims to protect individuals who are actively involved in informing the public by creating specific penalties for attacks targeting them. The prohibited conduct includes intentionally causing bodily injury or serious bodily injury to a journalist. For an act to be considered an offense, the perpetrator must have knowledge or reason to know the victim is a journalist, and the act must occur either while the journalist is newsgathering or with the specific intent to intimidate or impede their activities. Penalties for causing bodily injury include fines or imprisonment for up to three years, while acts causing serious bodily injury carry fines or imprisonment for up to six years, or both, reinforcing the bill's intent to deter violence against those performing essential public information roles.