Deck 10: Protection of News Sourcescontempt Power

Question 1

The Privacy Protection Act of 1980 came as a legislative response to which one of the following U.S.Supreme Court cases?

A)Cohen v.Cowles Media Co.
B)ReportersCommittee v.AT&T
C)Branzburg v.Hayes
D)Zurcher v.Stanford Daily

Answer 1

D

Question 2

One of the first things reporters should do after receiving a subpoena is to try to destroy the records sought so they won't have to surrender the material.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Courts that have addressed the issue of whether Internet service providers can be forced under subpoena in civil lawsuits to reveal the identity of people who post anonymous messages on the Internet

A)uniformly agree there is an absolute First Amendment right to engage in anonymous online speech that protects against such compelled disclosure/.
B)uniformly agree the First Amendment is not relevant in this issue and that Internet service providers must therefore always reveal the identity of people who post anonymous messages on the Internet.
C)have attempted to create tests that balance First Amendment interests against the needs of plaintiffs for the names of a people who posts anonymous messages on the Internet.
D)have held that the Fourth Amendment must be balanced against the First Amendment in such civil lawsuits.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The key to understanding the Supreme Court's ruling in Branzburg v.Hayes is to understand Justice Lewis Powell's concurring opinion.

Question 5

Which one of the following cases centered on the ability of confidential sources to sue journalists who breach promises of confidentiality?

A)Cohen v.Cowles Media Co.
B)ReportersCommittee v.AT&T
C)Branzburg v.Hayes
D)Zurcher v.Stanford Daily

Question 6

In Zurcherv.Stanford Daily,the U.S.Supreme Court ruled that newsroom searches

A)by government agents were a direct interference with freedoms protected by the First Amendment and are impermissible.
B)by government agents are not a First Amendment issue,but are governed by the Fourth Amendment and are clearly permissible.
C)by government agents are not a First Amendment issue,but are governed by the Fourth Amendment and are clearly impermissible.
D)are limited,but not totally banned,by the First Amendment.

Question 7

Variations of the Dendrite and Cahill tests often are used by courts today in determining whether:

A)a theory of promissory estoppel should apply in a civil lawsuit.
B)a website must reveal the identity of an anonymous poster in a civil lawsuit.
C)the collateral bar rule will apply in a civil lawsuit
D)the collateral bar rule will apply in a criminal prosecution

Question 8

Lower federal and state courts have fashioned a limited First Amendment privilege that often protects reporters who refuse to reveal the names of news sources.Judges seem more willing to grant reporters the use of this privilege in

A)grand jury investigations rather than in civil actions.
B)criminal actions rather than in civil actions.
C)civil actions rather than in grand jury investigations.
D)grand jury investigations rather than in criminal actions.

Question 9

In 2010,which one of the following individuals was held in contempt of court and fined $1,000 a day after she failed to show up in court to respond to a prosecutor's subpoena that asked her both to reveal the identity of one of her confidential sources and to talk about a jailhouse interview she had conducted with a man suspected of shooting two people?

A)Diane Sawyer
B)Claire O'Brien
C)Christiane Amanpour
D)Katie Couric

Question 10

Ten of 12 of the federal appellate courts have ruled that the First Amendment provides at least limited or qualified protection for reporters who are asked to testify or produce photos or materials in proceedings other than:

A)civil trials.
B)criminal trials.
C)grand juries.
D)habeas corpus.

Question 11

In 2011,a federal appellate court in the case of Chevron Corp.v.Berlinger,involving a documentary called "Crude" made by Joseph Berlinger,held that Berlinger could not assert a journalistic privilege because

A)he lacked journalistic independence.
B)his work was a documentary film,not a televised news story.
C)he was not a credentialed journalist.
D)did not work for a news organization.

Question 12

As of December 2011,each state that had adopted a shield law defined the critical term "journalist" as "a person engaged in the business of either gathering or reporting news."

Question 13

In 2011,Congress passed and President Obama signed into law a federal shield statute protecting journalists who appear in federal court proceedings from having to reveal the identity of their confidential sources.

Question 14

A 2006 appellate court decision in the California case of O'Grady v.Superior Court was:

A)a victory for Web site operators seeking protection as journalists in refusing to disclose their sources of information about Apple Computer.
B)a defeat for Web site operators seeking protection as journalists in refusing to disclose their sources of information about Apple Computer.
C)a victory for Web site operators under the laws of promissory estoppel after they breached promises of confidentiality to their sources of information.
D)a defeat for Web site operators under the laws of promissory estoppel after they breached promises of confidentiality to their sources of information.

Question 15

In light of cases such as those involving James Risen of The New York Times in 2008,the head of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press,Lucy Dalglish,advises journalists not to:

A)use the Internet
B)use office telephones
C)use confidential sources
D)use tape recorders

Question 16

The legal theory under which the plaintiff in Cohen v.Cowles Media Co.ultimately prevailed is called:

A)breach of contract
B)negligence
C)promissory estoppel
D)defamation

Question 17

Which one of the following cases centered on the ability of journalists to refuse to testify in grand jury proceedings?

A)Cohen v.Cowles Media Co.
B)ReportersCommittee v.AT&T
C)Branzburg v.Hayes
D)Zurcher v.Stanford Daily

Question 18

In determining whether a First Amendment-based privilege protects journalists from revealing confidential information and/or confidential sources in criminal trials in which the defendant is seeking the information,courts must balance the First Amendment against

A)the Fourth Amendment.
B)the Sixth Amendment.
C)both the Fourth Amendment and the Sixth Amendment.
D)neither the Fourth Amendment nor the Sixth Amendment.

Question 19

As of 2011,the only state that did not recognize some form of a privilege (be it statutory,common law or constitutional)for journalists seeking to preserve the confidentiality of sources or information was:

A)Missouri
B)Florida
C)California
D)Wyoming

Question 20

As of mid-to-late 2011,how many states had shield laws protecting journalists from revealing certain information and/or confidential sources in court proceedings?

A)10
B)40
C)45
D)50

Question 21

As described in the textbook,the most famous confidential source in modern American journalism history was a man who died in 2008 named ________________.

Question 22

The earliest reported case of a journalist refusing to disclose the identity of a confidential source involved a New York Herald reporter who had obtained information about the _____________ War.

Question 23

Describe both the information that James Taricani wanted to keep secret and who was seeking the information from Taricani.

Question 24

The _________ rule prohibits journalists from breaking a court order before challenging it in court.