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    Digital Journalist's Legal Guide
    Tablet and mobile phone showing news online

    Everything online journalists need to protect their legal rights. This free resource culls from all Reporters Committee resources and includes exclusive content on digital media law issues.

    Reporter's Privilege

    This section covers the use of subpoenas to force journalists to disclose their confidential news sources and unpublished information. Shield laws exist in forty states; if a reporter isn't covered by a shield law, there may still be a constitutional privilege that helps protect sources and information. This section also covers official attempts to seize journalists' work product and documents without a warrant.

    Government renews effort to expand Risen testimony

    J.C. Derrick | Reporter's Privilege | Feature | September 7, 2011
    J.C. Derrick
    Feature
    September 7, 2011

    Federal prosecutors launched another offensive last week in the battle to force a New York Times reporter to testify in the upcoming trial of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, claiming he plans to defend himself by blaming others for leaked information.

    Judge explains decision to quash Risen subpoena

    Clara Hogan | Reporter's Privilege | Feature | August 4, 2011
    Clara Hogan
    Feature
    August 4, 2011

    New York Times reporter James Risen will not need to reveal his confidential source in the leak trial of a former CIA officer because the U.S. government failed to show a compelling interest in his testimony and an inability to find the information elsewhere, a federal judge said in an opinion made public Wednesday.

    Two recent cases highlight tension in applying shield law to new media

    Will extending the reporter’s privilege too far weaken shield laws?
    Feature
    Page Number: 
    26
    Aaron Mackey

    From the Summer 2011 issue of The News Media & The Law, page 26.

    Recent developments in New Jersey and Hawaii have sparked debate about who should qualify for the protections of state shield laws and the complications that emerge when trying to extend the reporters privilege to online or independent journalists.

    In June, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in Too Much Media v. Hale that a person who posted comments on an online message board did not qualify for the state’s shield law.

    The News Media and The Law, Summer 2011

    Number of states with shield law climbs to 40

    Sidebar
    Page Number: 
    27
    Aaron Mackey

    From the Summer 2011 issue of The News Media & The Law, page 27.

    In April, West Virginia became the 40th state, along with the District of Columbia, to provide a statute that shields journalists from subpoenas. The law took effect on June 10.

    In Hawaii, Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed on June 16 an extension of the state’s shield law that will keep protections for journalists in the state on the books until 2013.

    The News Media and The Law, Summer 2011

    Times reporter won't have to reveal confidential source

    Clara Hogan | Reporter's Privilege | Feature | August 1, 2011
    Clara Hogan
    Feature
    August 1, 2011

    A New York Times reporter will not have to reveal a confidential source when he testifies in the trial of a former CIA employee accused of leaking classified information, a federal judge ruled late last week regarding one of the highest-profile journalist subpoenas in recent years.

    Company asks judge to throw out anonymous poster ruling

    Clara Hogan | Reporter's Privilege | Feature | July 28, 2011
    Clara Hogan
    Feature
    July 28, 2011

    An Internet service provider in Colorado earlier this month asked a federal court to throw out a magistrate judge’s ruling that, the provider says, ignored legal precedent regarding the unveiling of anonymous Internet posters.

    Federal judge hears arguments in Risen subpoena case

    Clara Hogan | Reporter's Privilege | Feature | July 7, 2011
    Clara Hogan
    Feature
    July 7, 2011

    A federal judge in Virginia heard arguments this morning about whether a New York Times reporter’s testimony is necessary for the U.S. government’s criminal leak case against former CIA employee Jeffrey Sterling.

    Reporters Committee joined by 46 news organizations in bid to quash subpoena

    Press Release | July 5, 2011
    July 5, 2011

    The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, joined by 46 media organizations, has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York City (2nd Cir.) seeking to affirm the quashing of a subpoena for the testimony of a Wall Street Journal reporter in a financial malfeasance lawsuit.

    Amicus brief in Baker & Baker v. Goldman Sachs & Co. et al.

    July 1, 2011
    application/pdf icon20110701-amicusbriefinbakerbakervgoldmansachscoetal.pdf

    Urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to affirm the lower court's order granting former Wall Street Journal reporter Jesse Eisinger's motion to quash a subpoena seeking his testimony about non-confidential unpublished information.

    Trial subpoena for Risen's testimony more likely to succeed

    Aaron Mackey | Reporter's Privilege | Feature | June 29, 2011
    Aaron Mackey
    Feature
    June 29, 2011

    It is more likely that a New York Times investigative reporter will have to testify in a trial against a former CIA official accused of leaking classified information, even though his subpoena before a grand jury for much of the same information was quashed, the federal judge handling the case said in a November ruling made public on Tuesday.