## Facts

- Michael B. Price, then head football coach at the University of Alabama, was accused of sexual misconduct during a trip to Pensacola, Florida, and related conduct in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
- Sports Illustrated, published by Time, Inc., ran an article written by Don Yaeger reporting the allegations, relying in part on a confidential source.
- Price sued Time, Inc. and Yaeger under Alabama law for libel, slander, and outrageous conduct, alleging the reporting was false and defamatory.
- During discovery, Price sought an order compelling defendants to reveal the identity of the confidential source for the Pensacola allegations.
- Yaeger identified four women who were likely to know the source’s identity (and one who was likely the source), but Price did not depose any of them before seeking compelled disclosure.
- The district court ordered disclosure of the confidential source’s identity, and defendants filed an interlocutory appeal.

## Issues

1. Whether a weekly magazine (Sports Illustrated) is a “newspaper” under Alabama’s reporter shield statute, Ala. Code § 12-21-142, entitling defendants to an absolute privilege against compelled disclosure.
2. Whether the First Amendment qualified reporter’s privilege barred compelled disclosure because Price had not exhausted reasonable alternative means of learning the source’s identity.

## Decision

- The Eleventh Circuit held Sports Illustrated is not a “newspaper” within Ala. Code § 12-21-142; therefore, the statute’s absolute privilege did not apply.
- Applying the circuit’s First Amendment qualified privilege test, the court concluded Price had not exhausted reasonable alternative sources because he failed to depose the four identified women.
- The court vacated the order compelling disclosure and remanded for further proceedings.

## Legal Principles

- Alabama’s reporter shield statute is construed by ordinary meaning and statutory context; “newspaper” does not include magazines absent clear legislative inclusion.
- In civil defamation cases, the First Amendment provides a qualified privilege protecting confidential sources, subject to a showing by the party seeking disclosure.
- Under Eleventh Circuit precedent, compelled disclosure requires: (1) highly relevant and material information, (2) exhaustion of reasonable alternative sources, and (3) necessity to case preparation.
- Failure to pursue identified, reasonable alternative discovery (such as depositions of key witnesses) makes an order compelling disclosure premature.

## Conclusion

The court rejected an absolute statutory shield for a magazine publisher but enforced a qualified First Amendment privilege, holding that a defamation plaintiff must first pursue reasonable alternative discovery before compelling a journalist to identify a confidential source.


Price v. Time, Inc., 416 F.3d 1327 (11th Cir. 2005)