JOUR3270 Public Affairs Reporting Research Guide

The Reporter's Privilege is a complete compendium of information on the reporter's privilege -- the right not to be compelled to testify or disclose sources and information in court -- in each state and federal circuit. Each section is arranged according to a standard outline, making it easy to compare the law in various states.

The Bloggers' FAQ on the Reporter's Privilege is useful to bloggers who report news gathered from confidential sources.

This is a detailed position paper on reporter’s privilege. It highlights and considers the interaction of court rulings such as Branzburg v. Hayes with federal rule and state law. The piece is co-authored by a subcommittee of the Committee on Communications & Media Law.

This piece is authored by Carey Lering and Henry Cohen for the Congressional Research Service. It provides an overview of the trends in the 31 state shield laws. It also includes the text of the laws themselves.

This website offers numerous articles about the unsuccessful attempt in 2009 and 2010 to adopt a federal shield law.

This website includes links to the U.S. House of Representatives’ and U.S. Senates’ shield law bills.

Journalists frequently are faced with subpoenas and court orders requiring them to testify and, in many instances, to reveal the identity of confidential sources or unpublished information. Journalists and news organizations are reliant on state statutes or state or federal case law to provide a privilege against testimony in state or federal courts or administrative proceedings. MLRC has collected a variety of materials on the reporter’s privilege, including information regarding efforts to enact a federal shield law, proposed state shield laws, existing state shield law statutes, and recent federal and state cases involving the privilege.

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter James Risen will not be asked to reveal confidential sources at the upcoming trial of a former CIA officer accused of leaking classified information — a decision that could set a precedent for other reporters ordered by the government to reveal their confidential sources.