Internet Journalists and the Reporter's Privilege: Providing Protection for Online Periodicals

The reporter’s privilege has become a national issue after the emergence of several controversial leaks to journalists of sensitive information, such as the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame and grand jury documents of the BALCO steroids investigation in San Francisco. Accordingly, the White House, Congress, and the public have become interested in the reporter’s privilege—the concept that journalists should not be compelled to reveal their confidential sources in a civil or criminal matter. This privilege is similar to other professional privileges such as the attorney-client and doctor-patient privileges. Generally, it allows a journalist to withhold a source’s identity and other information relating to that source, such as notes from a conversation, audio tapes of an interview, or video recordings. Journalists usually invoke the privilege in response to a subpoena demanding that they testify to a grand jury or in a civil proceeding. In the Valerie Plame incident, for example, a grand jury subpoenaed Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper for information about their conversations with confidential sources regarding Valerie Plame. Both journalists claimed a testimonial privilege. Despite a federal district court and the United