Ark. Code Ann. » Title 16 Chapter 85
Arkansas Code Annotated

Ark. Code Ann. § 16-85-510 (2026)

Disclosure of media sources

✓ current as of May 2026
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Before any editor, reporter, or other writer for any newspaper, periodical, radio station, television station, or internet news source, or publisher of any newspaper, periodical, or internet news source, or manager or owner of any radio station shall be required to disclose to any grand jury or to any other authority the source of information used as the basis for any article he or she may have written, published, or broadcast, it must be shown that the article was written, published, or broadcast in bad faith, with malice, and not in the interest of the public welfare.

History. Init. Meas. 1936, No. 3, § 15, Acts 1937, p. 1384; Pope's Dig., § 3828; Acts 1949, No. 254, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, § 43-917; Acts 2011, No. 799, § 1.

Amendments. The 2011 amendment substituted “media” for “newspaper, periodical, or radio station” in the section heading; and inserted “television station, or Internet news source” and “or Internet news source.”

Research References

Ark. L. Notes.

Gitelman and Watkins, No Requiem for Ricarte: Separation of Powers, the Rules of Evidence, and the Rules of Civil Procedure, 1991 Ark. L. Notes 27.

Ark. L. Rev.

Act 1949 General Assembly — Act 254 Newspaperman's Privilege Extended to Radio Broadcasters, 3 Ark L. Rev. 374.

U. Ark. Little Rock L.J.

Owen, Survey of Arkansas Law: Civil Procedure, 2 U. Ark. Little Rock L.J. 177.

U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev.

The Ben J. Altheimer Symposium: A Reporter's Privilege: Legal Fact or Fiction: Article: The Reporter's Privilege in Arkansas: An Overview with Commentary, 29 U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev. 1.

Case Notes

Construction.

The use of the words “to any other authority” in this section clearly indicates that the privilege is applicable to civil proceedings and not restricted to criminal proceedings. Saxton v. Arkansas Gazette Co., 264 Ark. 133, 569 S.W.2d 115 (1978).

Federal Subpoena.

Ark. Const., Art. 2, § 6, and this section would not shield a television network from a federal grand jury subpoena to turn over video footage and the transcript of an interview with a witness who refused to testify before the grand jury; state law privileges are inapplicable in such a situation. In re Grand Jury Subpoena ABC, 947 F. Supp. 1314 (E.D. Ark. 1996).

Waiver.

Where a newspaper reporter disclosed, to both her boss and a deputy prosecuting attorney, the name of a supposed anonymous confidential source, which name proved incorrect, with instructions that the name be kept strictly confidential, the privilege provided by this section was not waived. Saxton v. Arkansas Gazette Co., 264 Ark. 133, 569 S.W.2d 115 (1978).

Cited: United States v. Hively, 202 F. Supp. 2d 886 (E.D. Ark. 2002).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8 cases, 1996–2019 · leading case: Glenn R. Funk v. Scripps Media, Inc., 570 S.W.3d 205 (Tenn. 2019).
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Glenn R. Funk v. Scripps Media, Inc., 570 S.W.3d 205 (Tenn. 2019). “of 53rd Legislature (2018) ); Ark. Code Ann. § 16-85-510 (West, Westlaw through 2018 Fiscal Sess.”
In Re Grand Jury Subpoena Am. Broad. Companies, Inc., 947 F. Supp. 1314 (E.D. Ark. 1996). · cites it 4× “) the video footage and transcript of the MeDougal interview which was not broadcast is protected from disclosure by the journalist’s qualified privilege under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the' United States; (2) such information is protected from disclosure under…”
In re Grand Jury Subpoena, Miller, 438 F.3d 1141 (D.C. Cir. 2005). “” Ark. Code Ann. § 16-85-510 . Delaware is perhaps the most specific, protecting a “reporter,” which means any journalist, scholar, educator, polemicist, or other individual who either: (a) At the time he or she obtained the information that is sought was earning his or her…”
United States v. Jeffrey Sterling, 724 F.3d 482 (4th Cir. 2013). “§ 12-2237; Ark.Code Ann. § 16-85-510; Cal. Const. Art.”
Holmes v. Winter, 3 N.E.3d 694 (NY 2013). “For example, in Arkansas revelation of a source cannot be compelled absent proof that “the article was written, published, or broadcast in bad faith, with malice, and not in the interest of the public welfare” (Ark Code Ann § 16-85-510). West Virginia recently enacted a…”
In Re Grand Jury Subpoena, Miller, 438 F.3d 1138 (D.C. Cir. 2005). “” Ark. Code Ann. § 16-85-510 . Delaware is perhaps the most specific, protecting a “reporter,” which means any journalist, scholar, educator, polemicist, or other individual who either: (a) At the time he or she obtained the information that is sought was earning his or her…”
The New York Times Co. v. Gonzales, 382 F. Supp. 2d 457 (S.D.N.Y. 2005). “§§ 12-2214, 12-2237; Ark.Code Ann. § 16-85-510; Cal. Evid.Code § 1070; Colo.”
United States v. Hively, 202 F. Supp. 2d 886 (E.D. Ark. 2002). · cites it 2× “OTHER SOURCES OF PRIVILEGE: Movants’ reliance on Arkansas’ shield law is without merit. State law prohibits inquiry into a journalist’s confidential sources unless it is first shown that the article was published “in bad faith, with malice, and not in the interest of a public…”
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