11th Circuit Rules Sports Illustrated Not Protected by Alabama Shield Law

Sports Illustrated reporter Don Yeager may have to name his anonymous source in a defamation lawsuit brought by former University of Alabama coach Mike Price. In a ruling upholding a district court opinion, the 11th Circuit found that Alabama’s shield law means “newspaper” when it says “newspaper”,  not “newspaper and magazine”, and therefore that Sports Illustrated and its reporters are not covered. However, the appeals court told Price he will have to make a “reasonable effort” to identify the source through other means before turning to reporter Yeager. Read more here.