Four news organizations out of the 319 respondents (1 percent) reported removing reporters from a story as a result of the threat or use of subpoenas, a decrease from the 5 percent of respondents who indicated they removed reporters from stories in 1999. In all of the instances, the outlet removed the reporter at its own discretion, as opposed to compliance with a judge's order.

In a case not reported by respondents, a radio talk show host in Rhode Island was named as a possible witness by the defense in a high-profile case he was covering in the fall of 2001. The case, State v. Cianci, involved alleged corruption at Providence City Hall. The radio host reportedly had information on how a government videotape of the alleged corruption wound up in the hands of a television station. The trial judge issued a sequestration order preventing all possible witnesses from attending the criminal trial. According to a Rhode Island attorney, an agreement with defense counsel was reached whereby the talk show host was permitted to be present for the testimony of witnesses who were testifying about matters that were not relevant to his potential testimony. Thus, he was able to attend most of the trial.