Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Montana Media Confidentiality Laws

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Montana Code Sec 26-1-901 et all

26-1-901. Short title.

This part shall be known and may be cited as the "Media Confidentiality Act".
26-1-902. Extent of privilege. (1) Without his or its consent
no person, including any newspaper, magazine, press association, news
agency, news service, radio station, television station, or community
antenna television service or any person connected with or employed by
any of these for the purpose of gathering, writing, editing, or
disseminating news may be examined as to or may be required to disclose
any information obtained or prepared or the source of that information
in any legal proceeding if the information was gathered, received, or
processed in the course of his employment or its business.
(2) A person described in subsection (1) may not be adjudged
in contempt by a judicial, legislative, administrative, or any other
body having the power to issue subpoenas for refusing to disclose or
produce the source of any information or for refusing to disclose any
information obtained or prepared in gathering, receiving, or processing
information in the course of his or its business.
26-1-903. Waiver of privilege. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), dissemination in whole or in part does not constitute a waiver of provisions of
26-1-902.
(2) If the person claiming the privilege testifies, with or
without having been subpoenaed or ordered to testify or produce the
source, before a judicial, legislative, administrative, or other body
having the power to issue subpoenas or judicially enforceable orders,
he does not waive the provisions of 26-1-902
unless the person voluntarily agrees to waive the privilege or
voluntarily discloses the source in the course of his testimony. Except
as provided in this subsection, the provisions of 26-1-902 may not be waived.



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