{
  "id": 10,
  "slug": "shield-law",
  "term": "Shield law",
  "definition": "A statute or rule giving journalists a legal privilege to refuse to disclose confidential sources or unpublished material in legal proceedings. Most U.S. states have some form of shield law; no federal shield law has been enacted, leaving federal cases governed by Justice Department internal guidelines instead.",
  "body_md": null,
  "see_also": [],
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-22T20:03:53Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "revision": 6,
  "created_at": "2026-09-22T20:03:46Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-22T21:29:21Z",
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/glossary/shield-law",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-22T20:03:53Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 27,
      "url": "https://www.rcfp.org/doj-rescinds-news-media-guidelines-analysis/",
      "final_url": "https://www.rcfp.org/doj-rescinds-news-media-guidelines-analysis/",
      "title": "DOJ rescinds news media guidelines: analysis",
      "publisher": "Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press",
      "published_on": "2025-04-25",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20260917203552/https://www.rcfp.org/doj-rescinds-news-media-guidelines-analysis/",
      "wayback_saved_at": "2026-09-22T20:48:03Z"
    },
    {
      "id": 93,
      "url": "https://www.rcfp.org/federal-shield-law/",
      "final_url": "https://www.rcfp.org/federal-shield-law/",
      "title": "Federal shield law efforts",
      "publisher": "Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press",
      "published_on": null,
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    }
  ],
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}