Responding news organizations cited a variety of grounds for successful challenges. At times, courts quashed subpoenas for several different reasons.

Shield laws were cited in 36 (54 percent of challenges), while provisions of federal or state constitutions were successfully invoked only 12 times (18 percent of challenges). That other sources of the material were available often proved a fatal defect, being reported as the grounds for quashing 21 times (31 percent of challenges). That the subpoenaing party did not have a sufficient need for the materials sought was cited for the reason for quashing 21 subpoenas as well (31 percent of challenges).

Twelve subpoenas (18 percent of challenges) were quashed because the court found the material requested to be irrelevant, and 22 subpoenas (33 percent of challenges) were quashed because the subpoena was found to be overbroad.

Two subpoenas were reportedly quashed on other grounds, such as a serving technicality or the fact that the organization did not have the subpoenaed material.

A respondent from Salt Lake City, Utah, described a successful challenge at his paper, The Deseret News. The subpoena was served in connection with a case in which the Democratic party in Massachusetts challenged the residency of a candidate for governor who had a home in Utah. The Democrats were citing Deseret News stories in an effort to disqualify the candidate, and they sought to depose a reporter from the paper.

Managing editor Rick Hall said: "We retained counsel, fought it in state district court. Ultimately, [the] judge required [the] deposition, but limited the scope. [The r]eporter was not forced to give info not already published."