I. Introduction: History & Background

The reporter's privilege has not been definitively established by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. District courts with the Eighth Circuit are split. District courts in Minnesota and Missouri have adopted a qualified privilege in the civil context. However, the court in the Eastern District of Arkansas found no reporter's privilege existed in either the criminal or the grand jury context. The Eighth Circuit's decision in Cervantes has been recognized by treatises and cases as establishing a qualified privilege. See Cervantes v. Time, Inc., 464 F.3d 986 (8th Cir. 1972). However, in a subsequent case arising from the Starr investigation in Arkansas, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals stated that the question of whether a reporter's privilege exists "is an open one in this circuit." In re Grand Jury Subpoena Duces Tecum, 112 F.3d 910, 918 n.8 (8th Cir. 1997).