Florida Statute 90.5015 | Lawyer Caselaw & Research

The 2024 Florida Statutes

Title VII
EVIDENCE

Chapter 90
EVIDENCE CODE

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F.S. 90.5015

90.5015 Journalist’s privilege.—

(1) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the term:

(a) “News” means information of public concern relating to local, statewide, national, or worldwide issues or events.

(b) “Professional journalist” means a person regularly engaged in collecting, photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting, or publishing news, for gain or livelihood, who obtained the information sought while working as a salaried employee of, or independent contractor for, a newspaper, news journal, news agency, press association, wire service, radio or television station, network, or news magazine. Book authors and others who are not professional journalists, as defined in this paragraph, are not included in the provisions of this section.

(2) PRIVILEGE.—A professional journalist has a qualified privilege not to be a witness concerning, and not to disclose the information, including the identity of any source, that the professional journalist has obtained while actively gathering news. This privilege applies only to information or eyewitness observations obtained within the normal scope of employment and does not apply to physical evidence, eyewitness observations, or visual or audio recording of crimes. A party seeking to overcome this privilege must make a clear and specific showing that:

(a) The information is relevant and material to unresolved issues that have been raised in the proceeding for which the information is sought;

(b) The information cannot be obtained from alternative sources; and

(3) DISCLOSURE.—A court shall order disclosure pursuant to subsection (2) only of that portion of the information for which the showing under subsection (2) has been made and shall support such order with clear and specific findings made after a hearing.

(4) WAIVER.—A professional journalist does not waive the privilege by publishing or broadcasting information.

(5) CONSTRUCTION.—This section must not be construed to limit any privilege or right provided to a professional journalist under law.

(6) AUTHENTICATION.—Photographs, diagrams, video recordings, audio recordings, computer records, or other business records maintained, disclosed, provided, or produced by a professional journalist, or by the employer or principal of a professional journalist, may be authenticated for admission in evidence upon a showing, by affidavit of the professional journalist, or other individual with personal knowledge, that the photograph, diagram, video recording, audio recording, computer record, or other business record is a true and accurate copy of the original, and that the copy truly and accurately reflects the observations and facts contained therein.

(7) ACCURACY OF EVIDENCE.—If the affidavit of authenticity and accuracy, or other relevant factual circumstance, causes the court to have clear and convincing doubts as to the authenticity or accuracy of the proffered evidence, the court may decline to admit such evidence.

(8) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section or its application to any particular person or circumstance is held invalid, that provision or its application is severable and does not affect the validity of other provisions or applications of this section.

History.—s. 1, ch. 98-48; s. 20, ch. 2023-8.

F.S. 90.5015 on Google Scholar

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Amendments to 90.5015

Arrestable Offenses / Crimes under Fla. Stat. 90.5015

Level: Degree
Misdemeanor/Felony: First/Second/Third

Current data shows no reason an arrest or criminal charge should have occurred directly under Florida Statute 90.5015.

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 90.5015

Total Results: 14

CABLE NEWS NETWORK, INC. v. MICHAEL BLACK, M.D., MBA

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2020-10-07T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: by the journalist privilege pursuant to section 90.5015, Florida Statutes (2019). We conclude that the … 2 In its ruling, the court applied section 90.5015, which provides a qualified privilege to a professional…provided findings on all the elements of section 90.5015, and applied relevant law. Because this is a defamation…protected, it is a qualified privilege. Section 90.5015 provides the procedure to overcome that privilege

Palm Beach Newspapers, LLC v. Colin

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2016-09-14T00:00:00-07:00

Citation: 199 So. 3d 556, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 13811, 2016 WL 4917049

Snippet: journalist enjoys a qualified privilege under section 90.5015, Florida Statutes (2016), to not be a witness or

State v. Avery Topps

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2014-07-30T00:00:00-07:00

Citation: 142 So. 3d 978, 2014 WL 3730009, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 11606

Snippet: provisions of both the journalist’s privilege (§ 90.5015) and the spousal privilege (§ 90.504).

Askari Abdullah Muhammad f/k/a Thomas Knight v. State of Florida

Court: Fla. | Date Filed: 2014-01-03T00:00:00-08:00

Citation: 132 So. 3d 176

Snippet: qualified journalist‟s privilege set forth in section 90.5015, Florida Statutes (2013). The court also excluded…motions to quash the subpoenas based on section 90.5015, which creates a qualified journalist‟s privilege…provides in pertinent part as follows: 90.5015. Journalist’s privilege.— (1) DEFINITIONS… a professional journalist under law. § 90.5015 (1)-(5), Fla. Stat. (2013) (emphasis added). …compelling interest exists requiring disclosure. See § 90.5015(2)(a)-(c), Fla. Stat. (2013); McCarty v. Bankers

WTVJ-NBC 6 v. Shehadeh

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2011-03-09T00:00:00-08:00

Citation: 56 So. 3d 104, 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 3181

Snippet: under Florida’s “journalist’s privilege,” section 90.5015, Florida Statutes (2010). We find that WTVJ and…invoke the qualified privilege set forth in section 90.5015; that Shehadeh did not “make a clear and specific… that order. The Qualified Privilege Section 90.5015 was enacted in 1998 to protect “professional journalists…WTVJ and Burnside are entitled to invoke section 90.5015 with respect to the infor*106mation gathered by…without going through an intermediate server. . § 90.5015(2), Fla. Stat. (2010). . TheStreet.com, Inc.

TheStreet. Com, Inc. v. Carroll

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2009-09-30T00:00:00-07:00

Citation: 20 So. 3d 947, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 14516, 2009 WL 3110102

Snippet: omitted). The privilege is governed by section 90.5015, Florida Statutes, which expressly provides a professional…obtained while actively gathering news." § 90.5015(2), Fla. Stat. We disagree with the trial court… that the privilege was overcome under section 90.5015(2). Carroll failed to make the clear and specific…clear and specific findings for such a result. §§ 90.5015(2) and (3), Fla. Stat. For these reasons, we grant

Florida Hosp. Waterman, Inc. v. Buster

Court: Fla. | Date Filed: 2008-03-06T00:00:00-08:00

Citation: 984 So. 2d 478

Snippet: parties regarding mediation communication); § 90.5015, Fla. Stat. (2006) (providing for journalist'

State v. Famiglietti

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2002-05-08T00:53:00-07:00

Citation: 817 So. 2d 901

Snippet: obtained while actively gathering news." § 90.5015(2), Fla. Stat. (2001) (emphasis added). The statute

In Re Amendments to Fla. Evidence Code

Court: Fla. | Date Filed: 2000-10-26T00:53:00-07:00

Citation: 782 So. 2d 339

Snippet: and Reports); 98-48, section 1 (creating section 90.5015, Florida Statutes, Journalist's privilege);

News-Journal Corp. v. Carson

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 1999-08-20T00:53:00-07:00

Citation: 741 So. 2d 572

Snippet: 41 L.Ed.2d 789 (1974). [7] § 90.5015(2)(b), Fla. Stat. [8] § 90.5015(2)(c), Fla. Stat. [9] See Morris…qualified journalist's privilege statute, section 90.5015(2), Florida Statutes (Supp. 1998), bars discovery…, affirmed, 780 F.2d 340 (3d Cir.1985). [4] § 90.5015(2)(a), Fla. Stat. [5] See New York Times v. Sullivan

Ulrich v. Coast Dental Services, Inc.

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 1999-07-16T00:53:00-07:00

Citation: 739 So. 2d 142

Snippet: spoke with in his investigation. *143 Section 90.5015, Florida Statutes (effective May 12, 1998), provides…Florida Evidence, § 501.1, p. 308 (1996). Section 90.5015, Florida Statutes, recognizes a qualified journalist

Ocala Star Banner Corp. v. State

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 1998-12-18T00:00:00-08:00

Citation: 721 So. 2d 838, 1998 Fla. App. LEXIS 15940, 1998 WL 880918

Snippet: the journalist qualified privilege under section 90.5015, Florida Statute.1 Jones has filed a suggestion…GRIFFIN, C. J., and W. SHARP, J., concur. . § 90.5015(2), Fla. Stat. (Supp.1998): PRIVILEGE. — A professional

State v. Davis

Court: Fla. | Date Filed: 1998-10-22T00:53:00-07:00

Citation: 720 So. 2d 220

Snippet: provides as follows: Section 90.5015, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 90.5015 Journalist's privilege

Olson v. Huggins

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 1998-05-22T00:00:00-07:00

Citation: 709 So. 2d 660, 1998 Fla. App. LEXIS 5807, 1998 WL 259901

Snippet: the trial court can consider the pertinence of § 90.5015, Fla. Stat. (Supp.1998), at its earliest convenience