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Student name:__________
TRUE/FALSE – Write ‘T’ if the statement is true and ‘F’ if the statement is false.
1) The Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment grants special exceptions to
reporters that prevent them from having to respond to a subpoena in any instance.
⊚ true
⊚ false
2) In 2014 and 2015, the Department of Justice significantly revised the guidelines that
define when and how a federal prosecuting attorney can obtain a subpoena against a working
reporter.
⊚ true
⊚ false
3) The key to understanding the Supreme Court’s ruling in Branzburg v. Hayes is to
understand Justice Lewis Powell’s concurring opinion.
⊚ true
⊚ false
4) As of 2019, 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.”
⊚ true
⊚ false
5) In 2018, President Donald Trump 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.
⊚ true
⊚ false
6) 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.
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⊚ true
⊚ false
MULTIPLE CHOICE – Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or
answers the question.
7) In 2013, which of the following journalists fought a subpoena relating to her confidential
sources for a story about the prosecution of James Holmes for the Aurora, Colo., theater
shooting?
A) Rachel Maddow
B) Jana Winter
C) Maureen Dowd
D) Diane Sawyer
8) 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) he did not work for a news organization.
9) 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) Reporters Committee v. AT&T
C) Branzburg v. Hayes
D) Zurcher v. Stanford Daily
10) In Zurcher v. Stanford Daily, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that newsroom searches
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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.
11) 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.
12) 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.
13) As of 2019, about how many states had shield laws protecting journalists from revealing
certain information and/or confidential sources in court proceedings?
A) 5 to 10
B) 11 to 15
C) 35 to 40
D) 41 to 45
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14) 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) Reporters Committee v. AT&T
C) Branzburg v. Hayes
D) Zurcher v. Stanford Daily
15) 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) Reporters Committee v. AT&T
C) Branzburg v. Hayes
D) Zurcher v. Stanford Daily
16) Ten out of twelve 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 EXCEPT
A) civil trials.
B) criminal trials.
C) grand juries.
D) habeas corpus.
17) A 2006 appellate court decision in the California case of O’Grady v. Superior Court
was
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A) a victory for Web site operators seeking protection as journalists in refusing to
disclose their sources of information about Apple Computers.
B) a defeat for Web site operators seeking protection as journalists in refusing to
disclose their sources of information about Apple Computers.
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.
18) As of 2019, 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.
FILL IN THE BLANK. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or
answers the question.
19) As described in the textbook, the most famous confidential source in modern American
journalism history was a man who died in 2008 named _____.
20) 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.
21) The _____ rule prohibits journalists from breaking a court order before challenging it in
court.
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SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or
answers the question.
22) Set forth the three questions that courts typically ask in a civil lawsuit in determining
whether a qualified reporter’s privilege not to testify should be overcome.
23) Describe both the information that James Taricani wanted to keep secret and who was
seeking the information from Taricani.
24) Explain the significance of the 6 th Circuit’s 2015 ruling in Convertino v. United
States Department of Justice.
25) The American Civil Liberties Union hailed the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in
Carpenter v. United States as “a groundbreaking victory for Americans’ privacy rights in the
digital age.” Although the case was ultimately about the Fourth Amendment, explain the case’s
important implications for press freedom.
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Answer Key
Test name: chapter 10
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