The journalist's privilege for nonconfidential information in states with shield laws

Abstract

Most scholarship on journalistic privilege has been devoted to the issues affecting the right of journalists to refuse to reveal the identities of sources to whom confidentiality has been promised. The only United States Supreme Court case and almost all activity in lower courts and legislatures on the question are aimed at resolving the problem of whether or under what circumstances journalists should be compelled to identify confidential sources. Almost all of the increasing numbers of subpoenas issued to journalists, however, are aimed at journalists' nonconfidential information. This article analyzes state shield laws and their adjudication, concluding that the state of the law is divided on whether and to what extent journalists attempting to protect nonconfidential information should enjoy a constitutional, common‐law or statutory privilege.