II. Authority for and source of the right

Tennessee has a shield law that protects journalists' sources and other information gathered for publication or broadcast, whether obtained confidentially or not, and whether published or not. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 24-1-208. The shield law was enacted in 1974, in the wake of the 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Branzburg v. Hayes. Cases under the statute have focused on the shield law's broad protection and have not addressed whether a privilege is also available by way of the state or federal constitutions.