As in past years, respondents indicated that subpoenas are taking time and resources away from their newsgathering efforts, and most do not seem to be serving any legitimate need for information. Many demand material that often can be found elsewhere.

"In one case, because the attorney asked for material on an old crime, the [research and dubbing] bill was $650; much of the tape was stories in which file tape was used, so he got the bit of silent video over and over again. Most attorneys don't know what they are asking for," wrote Roger Gadley of KMPH-TV in Fresno, Calif.

John M. Humenik in Davenport, Iowa, said that at his newspaper, the Quad-City Times, "Each [subpoena] case involved defense attorneys unfamiliar with press practices or on a fishing expedition for a pre-trial venue motion."

"Mainly they're time-consuming," lamented the news director at a station in Iowa. "I had one that needed legal counsel and took me away from my daily duties. They're a headache!"

One tactic some broadcasters used for avoiding the hassle of a subpoena for video already aired was referrals to a video monitoring service. Such companies, which do not exist in all markets, keep archives of television programs they tape off the air and sell the tapes to requesters.

A broadcaster in Indiana described his station's policy: "We do not offer 'raw' tapes, only the aired versions are available. We have successfully challenged any and all requests for 'raw' footage. Because of that we have been referring attorneys to a video tape transcribing company to get copies of stories and transcripts of tapes. The company charges 10 times less than we do for such a service. I would say that has cut our workload, in regards to subpoenas, by nearly half."

A station in Fresno, Calif., went so far as to suggest to its local bar association that the bar contract with the local clipping service to permanently keep all recordings, so that attorneys could go to the service instead of to broadcasters for their evidence. According to Roger Gadley, news director of KMPH-TV, the bar association was not interested, and the idea was dropped after one meeting.