The De Facto Reporter's Privilege

93 Pages Posted: 12 Aug 2019

Date Written: March 5, 2018

Abstract

While the overwhelming majority of states have established constitutional, statutory, or common-law protections for reporters who shield the identity of a confidential source, there is no uniform, crosscutting federal reporter’s privilege. As a consequence, reporters subpoenaed in federal cases often lack effective formal protections. This can have a chilling effect on newsgathering: sources and reporters — may find little comfort in knowing that a source’s anonymity is preserved only at a judge’s or prosecutor’s discretion or by a reporter’s willingness to go to jail.

For decades, both those in favor of a formal federal reporter’s privilege and those opposed to it have marshaled historical arguments. Proponents point to the imprisonment of reporters in the past and argue that a privilege will ensure that confidential sources continue to provide the press—and ultimately, the public — with information. Opponents argue that the press has long flourished without a federal source of protection and that there is no indication that this flow of information will be constricted in the future.

Yet both sides of this debate have limited their historical inquiry to a small number of published reporter’s privilege cases. In this Article, I argue that such an accounting is incomplete. Focusing only on traditional black-letter law does not give us the whole picture of how reporters have fared. Drawing on a variety of historical sources, including newspaper articles, autobiographies, legislative records, and both published and unpublished cases, I conclude — contrary to the prevailing view that reporters enjoyed little protection at common law — that there is a well established tradition in the American legal and political system of protecting the press. I argue that longstanding efforts by judges, legislators, and prosecutors to shield reporters and their sources have created a web of informal, yet functional, protections. I refer to this as the “de facto” reporter’s privilege.

Illuminating the contours of this de facto privilege offers a number of insights. Most importantly, it demonstrates that merely pointing to the historical absence of a formal privilege is not a sufficient reason to oppose its creation. Such an inquiry fails to account for the full ecosystem of protections — both formal and informal — that have long protected the press. Instead, legislators and policymakers must also ask whether these informal protections remain robust. And if they do not, formalized protections may be not only appropriate, but necessary.

Suggested Citation

Koningisor, Christina, The De Facto Reporter's Privilege (March 5, 2018). Yale Law Journal, Vol. 127, No. 5, 2018, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3434040

Christina Koningisor (Contact Author)

UC Law, San Francisco ( email )

200 McAllister Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
United States

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