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. Link to Montana Code Sec 26-1-901 et all" source http://www.citmedialaw.org/montana-code-sec-26-1-901-et-all

Montana Media Laws, Rights and Information

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Legal Protections for Anonymous Speech in Montana

Note: This page covers information specific to Montana. For general information concerning legal protections for anonymous speech see the Legal Protections for Anonymous Speech section of this guide.

Montana has little case law on the First Amendment right to anonymous/pseudonymous speech, but one decision, Doty v. Molnar, No. DV 07-022 (Mont. Cir. Ct. Sept. 3, 2008), deals with whether a newspaper can invoke the Montana shield law to protect the identity of anonymous commenters.

Doty v. Molnar, No. DV 07-022 (Mont. Cir. Ct. Sept. 3, 2008)

Russell Doty, a former candidate for local political office in Montana, subpoenaed The Billings Gazette, seeking identifying information for three anonymous individuals who posted comments to an article on the newspaper's website in 2008 using the pseudonyms "CutiePie," "Always, wondering," and "High Plains Drifter." Doty issued the subpoena in connection with a defamation lawsuit against his former political rival, Brad Molnar, in which he alleged that Molnar made false statements in 2004 concerning Doty's qualifications to run for office.

Doty alleged that Molnar was one of the pseudonymous posters (Molnar denied this in a deposition), and that the other posters might serve as witnesses about the harm to his reputation caused by Molnar's 2004 statements. The Billings Gazette filed a motion to quash the subpoena, arguing that Montanta's shield law protected it from having to disclose the commenters' IP and email addresses.

On September 3, 2008, Judge Todd Baugh of Montana's 13th Judicial District granted the motion to quash, ruling that Montana's shield law protected the commenters' identifying information. Montana's shield law says that a news organization or any person "connected with or employed by [a news organization] for the purpose of gathering, writing, editing, or disseminating news” may not be required to "disclose any information obtained or prepared or the source of that information . . . if the information was gathered, received, or processed in the course of [a reporter's] employment or [a news organization's] business." Mont. Code § 26-1-902(1). Judge Baugh agreed with the Gazette's argument that this language is broad enough to encompass data gathered when a newspaper website user posts a comment."

Source

http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/legal-protections-anonymous-speech-montana

Posted here by 

Investigative Blogger 

Crystal L. Cox

Montana "Media"

for over 5 years.

The Public has a Right to Know.