I. Introduction: History & Background

New Hampshire does not have a shield law statute, although the New Hampshire Supreme Court has recognized a qualified constitutional privilege to withhold the identity of confidential news sources. There have not been any recent efforts to enact a shield law statute. There has been very little litigation involving the reporter's privilege, and we are unaware of any reporters having been jailed or fined in New Hampshire. As the First Circuit Court of Appeals recently observed in Gray v. St. Martin's Press, 221 F.3d 243, 253, 28 Media L. Rptr. 2313 (2000), New Hampshire law on the qualified confidential source privilege for reporters "is not a model of clarity." 221 F.3d at 253.