Which act protects journalists from being compelled to turn over work product and documentary materials before publication?

• A. The Federal Privacy Act
• B. The Privacy Protection Act of 1980
• C. The Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act
• D. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act

Answer: (B)

Materials gathered by journalists before publication are shielded from compulsory production by the Privacy Protection Act of 1980. This law was created to preserve the integrity of the news gathering process and to prevent government seizures of journalists’ work product and documentary materials, except under narrowly defined circumstances. It pushes law enforcement to use the least disruptive means and to respect the confidentiality of sources, recognizing that forcing pre-publication materials into the public arena can chill reporting. The other listed laws cover different privacy or surveillance areas—federal agency records, telecommunications intervention, and electronic-communications privacy—without providing the same specific protection for journalists’ pre-publication materials.