A reporter is privileged in an adjudicative proceeding to decline to testify concerning the source or content of information that he or she obtained within the scope of his or her professional activities if the reporter states under oath that the disclosure of the information would violate an express or implied understanding with the source under which the information was originally obtained or would substantially hinder the reporter in the maintenance of existing source relationships or the development of new source relationships.

10 Del. C. 1953, § ?4322; 59 Del. Laws, c. 163, § ?1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § ?1;

Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 10 Sec. 4322

  • Adjudicative proceeding: means any judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding in which the rights of parties are determined but does not include any proceeding of a grand jury. See Delaware Code Title 10 Sec. 4320
  • Information: means any oral, written or pictorial material and includes, but is not limited to, documents, electronic impulses, expressions of opinion, films, photographs, sound records, and statistical data. See Delaware Code Title 10 Sec. 4320
  • Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
  • Reporter: means any journalist, scholar, educator, polemicist, or other individual who either:

    a. See Delaware Code Title 10 Sec. 4320

  • Source: means a person from whom a reporter obtained information by means of written or spoken communication or the transfer of physical objects, but does not include a person from whom a reporter obtained information by means of personal observation unaccompanied by any other form of communication and does not include a person from whom another person who is not a reporter obtained information, even if the information was ultimately obtained by a reporter. See Delaware Code Title 10 Sec. 4320
  • Within the scope of his or her professional activities: means any situation, including a social gathering, in which the reporter obtains information for the purpose of disseminating it to the public, but does not include any situation in which the reporter intentionally conceals from the source the fact that he or she is a reporter and does not include any situation in which the reporter is an eyewitness to or participant in an act involving physical violence or property damage. See Delaware Code Title 10 Sec. 4320