The 2001 survey form asked respondents whether the threat of subpoenas or the receipt of subpoenas had affected newsroom policies regarding the retention of notes or videotape, or the use of confidential sources. Out of 319 respondents, 49 (15 percent) reported a change in newsroom policies as a result. Forty-four (14 percent) said their policies regarding the retention of notes, drafts or other unpublished or nonbroadcast material had been affected. Five (2 percent) reported that changes had been made pertaining to the use of confidential sources due to the threat of subpoenas.

Some respondents described strict institutional policies regarding the retention of notes or videotape, and some news organizations even promulgated formal, written policies that reporters and editors were expected to follow at all times.

For example, Rick Larson of the Tri-City Herald in Washington said: "We established a policy that notes should not be retained longer than 30 days unless legal action is threatened."

"After attending a seminar discussing the possibilities of subpoenas, we put a 6-month time limit on keeping old notes, then they are to be destroyed," reported Stan Hojnacki of The Hickory Daily Record in North Carolina.

Some broadcast outlets said they recycle tapes frequently, so that raw footage is not available for subpoenaing parties. The policy at KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is "not to keep unedited raw videotape longer than 24 hours," according to news director Rebecca Lutgen Gardner.

At a station in Texas, "field tapes are kept in constant service so raw video is often recorded over from day to day. This way unedited video is non-existent."

Some outlets tried to balance the desire to destroy materials for the purpose of avoiding subpoenas against the need to retain information in the event a story is questioned or becomes news again.

"We save notes only long enough to make sure that those written about in critical (i.e. controversial) stories have a chance to claim corrections," said an editor in Vermont. "Most notebooks are tossed within weeks."

Similarly, a South Carolina editor said: "For many years it has been our policy not to keep notes or drafts beyond a reasonable period of accountability for a story's accuracy."

"We destroy all emails after 90 days," explained another southern respondent. "We keep notes only as necessary to attribute information in the event of a libel suit."

Not all news outlets have written policies or formal timetables. Many respondents simply described policies that "encourage" or "recommend" the destruction of unpublished materials, including notes, unedited videotape, and photographic negatives, within a "reasonable" amount of time. Some, like Jonie Larson of The Daily Gazette in Sterling, Ill., said they decide what to retain on a "case-by-case" basis.

"Our reporters and editors do not retain drafts of stories unless there is a specific reason to do so," said Frank Barrows of The Charlotte Observer in North Carolina.

A number of news organizations said they discourage reporters from using confidential sources due to concerns about subpoenas, and many indicated that reporters are allowed to quote or use unnamed sources only with prior approval from editors.

"Confidential sources are a continuing topic of conversation. Typically a senior editor's approval is required," said an editor in South Carolina.

Another newspaper in Oregon has instituted "increased training with reporters on potential limits and pitfalls with confidential sources in legally tricky situations."