III. Scope of protection

The reporter's privilege is a qualified privilege that is presumptively available to persons falling into the protected class of journalists. Bell v. City of Des Moines, 412 N.W.2d 585, 587 (Iowa 1987). The privilege may be subordinated if the requesting party has a substantial need for the information and has exhausted other means of attaining the information. Winegard, 258 N.W.2d at 850 (stating that privilege is qualified and not absolute); Lamberto v. Bown, 326 N.W.2d 305, 308, 8 Med. L. Rptr. 2525 (Iowa 1982) (setting forth the test for rebuttal of the reporter's privilege presumption). The privilege "protects confidential sources, unpublished information, and reporter's notes." Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier v. Hawkeye Cmty. Coll., 646 N.W.2d 97, 102 (Iowa 2002). A district court ruling held that a freelance journalist was eligible for the privilege as a member of the protected class because he was engaged in the news gathering process. Stanfield v. Polk Cty., 18 Med. L. Rptr. 1262, 1265, No. CE 34-20125 (Iowa Dist. Ct. 1990).

The Texas Free Flow of Information Act (also known as a reporter’s privilege) is a qualified privilege with separate civil and criminal sections. The civil section applies to confidential and non-confidential sources, journalist’s work product and published and unpublished materials. In order to require a reporter to testify or produce materials, the party who issued the subpoena must show by clear and specific evidence the following:

(1) all reasonable efforts have been exhausted to obtain the information from alternative sources;

(2) the subpoena is not overbroad, unreasonable, or oppressive and, when appropriate, will be limited to the verification of published information and the surrounding circumstances relating to the accuracy of the published information;

(3) reasonable and timely notice was given of the demand for the information, document, or item;

(4) in this instance, the interest of the party subpoenaing the information outweighs the public interest in gathering and dissemination of news, including the concerns of the journalist;

(5) the subpoena or compulsory process is not being used to obtain peripheral, nonessential, or speculative information; and

(6) the information, document, or item is relevant and material to the proper administration of the official proceeding for which the testimony, production, or disclosure is sought and is essential to the maintenance of a claim or defense of the person seeking the testimony, production, or disclosure.

Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §22.024.

The criminal section, on the other hand, is separated into three parts with different tests applying to different matters. The first part deals with confidential sources, the next with unpublished work product and non-confidential sources, and the third with published information. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. arts. 38.11 and 38.111.