News organizations reported receiving subpoenas in connection with criminal trials and investigations, civil trials and civil depositions, criminal grand jury proceedings, and administrative proceedings.

Criminal proceedings generated the greatest number of proceedings, surpassing the number of subpoenas issued in civil cases by 189. Subpoenas issued in criminal cases accounted for 484 (56 percent) of the reported 823 subpoenas overall. Of those subpoenas, 353 (73 percent) were served in conjunction with a criminal trial, 115 (24 percent) were served in conjunction with a criminal investigation, and 16 (3 percent) for grand jury proceedings.

"Most subpoenas seek video and audio related to crime," reported a Kentucky broadcaster, whose news outlet fit the trend in this regard.

Because high-profile crimes are often covered more than once, some criminal subpoenas can be especially burdensome.

"Some stories have run in our newscasts over 400 times," said a broadcaster in Sarasota, Fla. A murder in that city that went to trial in 2001 required a "massive" effort on the part of the station to respond to a subpoena issued in the case.

Surveyed news organizations reported receiving 295 subpoenas (36 percent) related to civil litigation. The majority of those civil subpoenas, 222 (75 percent) were issued in civil trials, while 73 (25 percent) sought depositions in civil matters.

Responding news outlets indicated that only 10 (1 percent) of the subpoenas they received arose from proceedings within an administrative agency. Media organizations reported another 13 (2 percent) where the type of proceeding involved was unknown. Eleven subpoenas were characterized by the responding organization as being part of some other type of proceeding, rather than a criminal, civil or administrative proceeding.

The majority of subpoenas issued to media outlets in 2001 arose in state court proceedings, accounting for 706 (86 percent) of all reported subpoenas. Only 74 subpoenas reported (9 percent) were issued in proceedings in a federal court. The responding news organizations did not identify the source of the remaining 43 (5 percent).

In almost all of the civil cases, news organizations said they were not parties to the lawsuits in question. Of the civil subpoenas reported, 286 (97 percent) were described as being served upon the media as "third parties" to the litigation. A media organization was directly involved in the civil proceeding to which a subpoena was connected in only nine instances (3 percent).

Out of the nine instances in which the media outlet receiving the subpoena was a party to the case, usually as the defendant to a lawsuit, two of the suits involved a libel claim, two included an invasion of privacy claim, and the rest involved other types of civil claims. Because claims involving libel and invasion of privacy often are combined in one legal proceeding, both claims can be addressed in the same subpoena.