SUBCHAPTER C.  JOURNALIST'S QUALIFIED TESTIMONIAL PRIVILEGE IN CIVIL PROCEEDINGS

Sec. 22.021.  DEFINITIONS.  In this subchapter:
(1)  "Communication service provider" means a person or the parent, subsidiary, division, or affiliate of a person who transmits information chosen by a customer by electronic means, including:
(A)  a telecommunications carrier, as defined by Section 3, Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 153);
(B)  a provider of information service, as defined by Section 3, Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 153);
(C)  a provider of interactive computer service, as defined by Section 230, Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 230); and
(D)  an information content provider, as defined by Section 230, Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 230).
(2)  "Journalist" means a person, including a parent, subsidiary, division, or affiliate of a person, who for a substantial portion of the person's livelihood or for substantial financial gain, gathers, compiles, prepares, collects, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports, investigates, processes, or publishes news or information that is disseminated by a news medium or communication service provider and includes:
(A)  a person who supervises or assists in gathering, preparing, and disseminating the news or information; or
(B)  notwithstanding the foregoing, a person who is or was a journalist, scholar, or researcher employed by an institution of higher education at the time the person obtained or prepared the requested information, or a person who at the time the person obtained or prepared the requested information:
(i)  is earning a significant portion of the person's livelihood by obtaining or preparing information for dissemination by a news medium or communication service provider; or
(ii)  was serving as an agent, assistant, employee, or supervisor of a news medium or communication service provider.
(3)  "News medium" means a newspaper, magazine or periodical, book publisher, news agency, wire service, radio or television station or network, cable, satellite, or other transmission system or carrier or channel, or a channel or programming service for a station, network, system, or carrier, or an audio or audiovisual production company or Internet company or provider, or the parent, subsidiary, division, or affiliate of that entity, that disseminates news or information to the public by any means, including:
(A)  print;
(B)  television;
(C)  radio;
(D)  photographic;
(E)  mechanical;
(F)  electronic; and
(G)  other means, known or unknown, that are accessible to the public.
(4)  "Official proceeding" means any type of administrative, executive, legislative, or judicial proceeding that may be conducted before a public servant, including a proceeding under Rule 202, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
(5)  "Public servant" means a person elected, selected, appointed, employed, or otherwise designated as one of the following, even if the person has not yet qualified for office or assumed the person's duties:
(A)  an officer, employee, or agent of government;
(B)  a juror;
(C)  an arbitrator, referee, or other person who is authorized by law or private written agreement to hear or determine a cause or controversy;
(D)  an attorney or notary public when participating in the performance of a governmental function; or
(E)  a person who is performing a governmental function under a claim of right, although the person is not legally qualified to do so.
Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 29 (H.B. 670), Sec. 1, eff. May 13, 2009.