                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PROTECTED INFORMATION; NEWSPERSONS ENGAGED IN JOURNALISM (§ 19.2-271.5)

A. As used in this section, unless the context requires a different meaning:
			&#8220;Journalism&#8221; means the gathering, preparing, collecting,
photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting, or publishing of news or
information that concerns local, national, or international events or other
matters of public interest for dissemination to the public.
			&#8220;News organization&#8221; means any (i) newspaper or magazine issued at
regular intervals and having a general circulation; (ii) recognized press
association or wire service; (iii) licensed radio or television station that
engages in journalism; or (iv) business that, by means of photographic or
electronic media, engages in journalism and employs an editor overseeing the
journalism function that follows commonly accepted journalistic practice as
evidenced by (a) membership in a state-based journalism organization, including
the Virginia Press Association and the Virginia Association of Broadcasters; (b)
membership in a national journalism organization, including the National Press
Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Online News Association;
(c) membership in a statewide or national wire news service, including the
Capital News Service, The Associated Press, and Reuters; or (d) its continuous
operation since 1994 or earlier.
			&#8220;Newsperson&#8221; means any person who, for a substantial portion of
his livelihood or for substantial financial gain, engages in journalism for a
news organization. &#8220;Newsperson&#8221; includes any person supervising or
assisting another person in engaging in journalism for a news organization.
			&#8220;Protected information&#8221; means information identifying a source
who provided information to a newsperson under a promise or agreement of
confidentiality made by a news organization or newsperson while such news
organization or newsperson was engaging in journalism.

B. Except as provided in subsection C, no newsperson in any administrative,
civil, or criminal proceeding shall be compelled by the Commonwealth or a
locality or, in the case of a civil proceeding, a party to such proceeding to
testify about, disclose, or produce protected information. Any protected
information obtained in violation of this subsection is inadmissible for any
purpose in an administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding.

C. A court may compel a newsperson to testify about, disclose, or produce
protected information only if the court finds, after notice and an opportunity
to be heard by such newsperson, that:

   1. The protected information is necessary to the proof of an issue material to
   an administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding;

   2. The protected information is not obtainable from any alternative source;

   3. The Commonwealth or locality or, in the case of a civil proceeding, a party
   to such proceeding exhausted all reasonable methods for obtaining the
   protected information from all relevant alternative sources, if applicable;
   and

   4. There is an overriding public interest in the disclosure of the protected
   information, including preventing the imminent threat of bodily harm to or
   death of a person or ending actual bodily harm being inflicted upon a person.

D. The publication by a news organization or the dissemination by a newsperson
of protected information obtained while engaging in journalism shall not
constitute a waiver of the protection from compelled testimony, disclosure, and
production provided by subsection B.

HISTORY: 2020, c. 650; 2024, c. 589.