Moreover, not all states have shield laws. The states that do have such laws are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, and the District of Columbia. Each of these states defines and applies a journalist's privilege differently. They examine who is a journalist, what kind of information the privilege protects, and whether there are any qualifications to the privilege. In addition, there is no federal shield law, though the Department of Justice does apply something akin to a shield law at the federal level.

The qualifications contained in the shield laws are of critical importance to journalists, because the shield laws really provide little more protection than the common-law right to privilege. In states with shield laws, journalists...
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