Policy Liberalism, Public Opinion, and Strength of Journalist’s Privilege in the American States

Abstract

Laws protecting newsgathering vary among US states, yet comparative studies of state press law are rare. Focusing on journalist’s privilege, this study hypothesized that policy liberalism and public support for journalistic confidentiality would predict the strength of a state’s journalist’s privilege. The hypotheses involving policy liberalism and public opinion were supported. The study’s findings suggest that states with higher levels of policy liberalism tend to create journalistic confidentiality protections, which may serve as a mechanism for government accountability. This finding also supports previous research suggesting that policy liberalism plays an important role in state newsgathering laws.