§ 8-53.11. Persons, companies, or other entities engaged in gathering or dissemination of news.
§ 8‑53.11. Persons,companies, or other entities engaged in gathering or dissemination of news.
(a) Definitions. Thefollowing definitions apply in this section:
(1) Journalist. Anyperson, company, or entity, or the employees, independent contractors, oragents of that person, company, or entity, engaged in the business ofgathering, compiling, writing, editing, photographing, recording, or processinginformation for dissemination via any news medium.
(2) Legal proceeding. Any grand jury proceeding or grand jury investigation; any criminalprosecution, civil suit, or related proceeding in any court; and any judicialor quasi‑judicial proceeding before any administrative, legislative, orregulatory board, agency, or tribunal.
(3) News medium. Anyentity regularly engaged in the business of publication or distribution of newsvia print, broadcast, or other electronic means accessible to the generalpublic.
(b) A journalist has aqualified privilege against disclosure in any legal proceeding of any confidentialor nonconfidential information, document, or item obtained or prepared whileacting as a journalist.
(c) In order toovercome the qualified privilege provided by subsection (b) of this section,any person seeking to compel a journalist to testify or produce informationmust establish by the greater weight of the evidence that the testimony orproduction sought:
(1) Is relevant andmaterial to the proper administration of the legal proceeding for which thetestimony or production is sought;
(2) Cannot be obtainedfrom alternate sources; and
(3) Is essential to themaintenance of a claim or defense of the person on whose behalf the testimonyor production is sought.
Any order to compel anytestimony or production as to which the qualified privilege has been assertedshall be issued only after notice to the journalist and a hearing and shallinclude clear and specific findings as to the showing made by the personseeking the testimony or production.
(d) Notwithstandingsubsections (b) and (c) of this section, a journalist has no privilege againstdisclosure of any information, document, or item obtained as the result of thejournalist's eyewitness observations of criminal or tortious conduct, includingany physical evidence or visual or audio recording of the observed conduct. (1999‑267,s. 1.)