Court Opinion

ID: 9762809
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:31:28.539306+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:37.623853
License: Public Domain

TAMILIA, Judge, dissenting:
I dissent and would affirm the orders of the lower courts. The two appeals, which were consolidated for argument, present the same issue as to the production of television materials on motion by plaintiffs in defamation actions. In one, the trial court granted appellee/Hatchard’s motion to compel production of outtakes,1 but denied his request for other documentary material. In the other, appellee, Lefkoski’s motion to compel production of reporter’s notes and other documentary material, as well as outtakes, was granted.
The majority would reverse, and reluctantly hold that despite the injustice of applying In re Taylor, 412 Pa. 32, 193 A.2d 181 (1963), the concept of appellate review which limits an intermediate appellate court from going beyond stated law enunciated by the Supreme Court, prevents us from correcting the injustice.
I believe this analysis, as exhaustive and persuasive as it may appear, avoids the clear balancing of individual rights as opposed to media rights under the first amendment, and the clearly distinguishable factual and legal considerations between Taylor and the cases subject to these appeals.
The issues for our determination are whether the Pennsylvania Shield Law or the first amendment to the United States Constitution accords appellants, Westinghouse Broadcasting Company and its affiliate KYW-TV 3 and NEP-TV News, the privilege of withholding from appellees, George Hatchard and Mt. Pocono AMC/Jeep, Inc. and Zigmond Lefkoski, the outtakes and other documentary materials ordered to be produced. I would find that neither the Pennsylvania Shield Law nor the first amendment to the *32United States Constitution privileges appellants from relinquishing the outtakes in both cases and the documentary material requested by Lefkoski and affirm the lower court’s orders.

Background

In January and in March of 1979, appellant/KYW-TV3 broadcast investigative reports of its I-Team entitled “Wheeling and Dealing with City Hall” and “Follow to Wheeling and Dealing with City Hall”. These reports concerned appellees’ sale of millions of dollars’ worth of automobiles to the city of Philadelphia and the propriety of the business relationship between appellees and the city. Numerous individuals, including appellee, George Hatchard, gave taped interviews to I-Team reporters, and edited portions of the interviews were broadcast on KYW-TV 3. On November 7, 1979, appellees commenced suit against appellants alleging that the broadcast reports were defamatory. Appellees subsequently amended their complaint (on January 27, 1981), and appellants filed an answer denying that appellees were defamed and maintaining that the broadcasts were accurate and truthful.'
On November 16, 1979, appellees filed a request for production of documents seeking the unedited portions of all tapes, film, transcripts and memoranda prepared during the I-Team investigation. Appellants objected to this request maintaining that they were privileged from disclosing the documents under the Pennsylvania Shield Law, 42 Pa.C. S.A. § 5942(a)2 and under the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions. On February 3, 1981, appellees filed a motion to compel production, which the lower court denied without prejudice. On May 21, 1981, appellees filed a second request for production seeking “[a]ll tapes, film, transcripts, memoranda, etc..., prepared during the I-Team investigation of Mt. Pocono AMC/Jeep, ..., excluding *33any such material that would reveal the identity of your sources pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5942.” The request also sought “[a]ll tapes, film, transcripts, memoranda, etc..., prepared during [appellants’] interviews ...” with twelve named individuals, except any “... material referred to by those individuals which would, in turn, reveal the source of other material [appellants] deem privileged.” Appellants filed an objection to the request for production of documents reasserting its position that they were privileged under the Pennsylvania Shield Law and under the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions. Appellees then filed a motion to compel production of documents, which was granted by the lower court on February 11, 1982. The lower court entered an order requiring appellants to produce the following:
1. All tapes, film, transcripts, memoranda, etc., prepared by the I-Team, of statements by or interviews with Plaintiff, George Hatchard.
2. All tapes and/or film prepared by the I-Team, of statements by or interviews with the following:
a. William Klenk
b. Hillel Levinson
c. Carl Biegler
d. * Richard Wills
e. Bob Mindlin
f. Francis Rizzo
g. William Taylor
h. Ben Wolf
In responding to items 1 and 2, Defendant shall not be required to produce any material where another source is revealed or where the material contains information which could reasonably lead to the disclosure of another source by the primary source (the people listed above). Plaintiff’s request for the production of transcripts, memoranda or other notes prepared by the Defendants in *34conjunction with their interview of the above individuals is denied.
The instant appeal is from this Order. Preliminarily, appellees challenge our jurisdiction, and I think it appropriate to comment briefly on the propriety of our reviewing the merits of the issues presented here.
The lower court refused appellants’ request to certify its ruling for interlocutory review pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 702(b) and Pa.R.A.P. 312, 1311 and 1312. Appellants filed a petition for a writ of prohibition or mandamus on June 11, 1982, at No. 169 Miscellaneous Docket No. 13 seeking to prevent the lower court from ordering appellants to comply with the production request of appellees. Speaking through President Judge Spaeth, our Court found that it would be inappropriate to issue either a writ of prohibition or mandamus since the lower court does not abuse or act beyond its jurisdiction simply because it issues an order that one party maintains is not supported by law. Compare Schlesinger Petition, 367 Pa. 476, 81 A.2d 316 (1951) and McNairs Petition, 324 Pa. 48, 187 A. 498 (1936) with West Penn Power Company v. Goddard, 460 Pa. 551, 333 A.2d 909 (1975). Where the lower court refuses to certify its ruling for interlocutory review, the appropriate course is a petition for review. Pa.R.A.P. Chapter 15. See comment, Pa.R.A.P. 1311. Although appellants did not proceed in this manner, we regarded the petition as what it should have been — a petition for review. Pa.R.A.P. 1503. So regarded, it was granted. The lower court should have certified its ruling for interlocutory review because the issue here involves a controlling question of law as to which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion. To await the entry of a final order as might be entered would be impractical as it is apparent that the issues’ immediate resolution would materially advance the ultimate termination of the case. Pa.R.A.P. 1312(a)2. As there is no rule or statute placing a time limit on the filing of a petition for review from the judicial order in question, our exercise of discre*35tionary power to consider the merits of the instant appeal of an interlocutory order is proper. See Pa.R.A.P. 1512(c).
On May 28th and May 29th, WNEP-TV, Channel 16 News (NEP), broadcast a news report which appellee/Lefkoski alleges conveyed the impression that Lefkoski’s auto repair business, “Ziggy’s South Wilkes-Barre Auto Body Shop”, had engaged in questionable business practice. Appellee sued NEP on June 25, 1984, and on July 23, 1984, he requested, prusuant to Pa.R.C.P. 4009, that NEP produce the following:
1. All writings, photographs, tapes, films, scripts, sound reproductions, records, editorial records, and other compilations of data of, concerning or relating in any way to the following:
a. Any investigation or investigations made by the defendant concerning the plaintiff and/or plaintiff’s business, known as Ziggy’s South Wilkes-Barre Auto Body Shop, Rear 611 South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA 1870 [sic ].
b. Any information which on or before May 29, 1984 became known to the defendant concerning the plaintiff and/or plaintiff’s said business.
c. The interview conducted on or about May 23, 1984 by agents and/or employees of the defendant with the plaintiff at the aforesaid place of business of the plaintiff.
d. The complete television news broadcasts transmitted by the defendant on May 28, 1984 and May 29, 1984 and in which the said broadcasts included any reference whatever to the plaintiff and/or plaintiff’s said business.
e. The anchor-intro to the aforesaid television news broadcasts.
f. The teases to the aforesaid television news broadcasts.
g. All matters edited from and/or omitted from the final form of the aforesaid interview and television news broadcasts.
NEP refused and after a motion to produce and hearing, the court issued the following order:
*36NOW, this 21 day of February, 1985, at 9:10 o’clock, A.M., it is hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED and DECREED that, consistent with the annexed Decision, Defendant shall respond to the Request of Plaintiff for Production and Inspection of Documents in possession of Defendant under Pa.Rule of Civil Procedure 4009, within thirty (30) days from the date of this Order.
An interlocutory appeal, properly filed pursuant to 42 Pa. C.S. § 702(b), was granted on May 7, 1985.

Pennsylvania Shield Law

At common law, reporters had no right to remain silent when asked to divulge information given to them in confidence. See, 8 Wigmore § 2286 (McNaughton rev. 1961). Pennsylvania abrogated this common law rule by legislative enactment privileging a newspaper publisher or reporter to withhold the identity of sources of information. The current version of the Shield Law, 42 Pa.C.S.A. 5942(a), provides:
Confidential communications to news reporters
No person engaged on, connected with, or employed by any newspaper of general circulation or any press association or any radio or television station, or any magazine of general circulation, for the purpose of gathering, procuring, compiling, editing or publishing news, shall be required to disclose the source of any information procured or obtained by such person, in any legal proceeding, trial or investigation before any government unit, (emphasis supplied)
The Pennsylvania Shield Law was enacted to protect the identity of an informant and confidential communications between that informant and the reporter.3 This legislation would necessarily foster the free flow of news to the public inasmuch as it would encourage individuals to divulge infor*37mation who might otherwise not do so absent assurances of confidentiality.
Recently in Hepps v. Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc., 506 Pa. 304, 485 A.2d 374 (1984), appeal pending, — U.S. — 105 S.Ct. 3496, 87 L.Ed.2d 628 (1985), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reiterated that the Shield Law is “designed to protect the confidentiality of the source.” The court stated that “sources are excludable whether or not they contain the identity of sources actually used by the newspaper since the identity of all persons named or implicated in these sources is also within the protection of the ‘shield law’.” Id. at 328, 485 A.2d at 387.
Instantly, appellants do not contend that the discovery request for documentary materials or outtakes is irrelevant, though they do urge that the information sought can be garnered by other discovery tools. Instead, appellants assert that as a matter of Pennsylvania law, the materials ordered to be produced, that may reveal a source of information, are absolutely privileged under the Pennsylvania Shield Law. With this assertion we cannot agree, since appellants do not consider the countervailing fundamental right to the protection of one’s reputation provided by the Pennsylvania Constitution, Article 1, Declaration of Rights, Sections 1, 11. See Wolfe v. Beal, 477 Pa. 477, 480, 384 A.2d 1187, 1189 (1978); Moyer v. Phillips, 462 Pa. 395, 400, 341 A.2d 441, 443 (1975). See also, Matson v. Margiotti, 371 Pa. 188, 88 A.2d 892 (1952); Meas v. Johnson, 185 Pa. 12, 39 A. 562 (1898); In re Sharpe, 248 Pa.Super. 74, 88-89, 374 A.2d 1323, 1338 (1977) (Spaeth, J., concurring and dissenting); Commonwealth v. Swallow, 8 Pa.Super. 539 (1898).
The seminal case and only Pennsylvania appellate decision applying the earlier version of the Shield Law is In Re Taylor, 412 Pa. 32, 193 A.2d 181 (1963).4 The Taylor Court *38gave the Shield Law a broad interpretation, although it did so in the context of a grand jury proceeding.
Taylor arose out of a grand jury investigation in November, 1962, into alleged criminal activity in Philadelphia city government. Among those questioned was John Fitzpatrick, who revealed that he had given information to Philadelphia Evening and Sunday Bulletin reporters. Fitzpatrick had been questioned by the District Attorney’s office in February, 1962, but the contents of the interrogation were not made public. On December 30, 1962, the Bulletin published an article entitled “Fitzpatrick’s Secret Talk to D.A. is Barred” and revealed portions of the February interrogation to which the Bulletin had acquired access. The article stated that much of the District Attorney’s “questioning dealt with what John Fitzpatrick had told Bulletin reporters.” Id., 412 Pa. at 36, 193 A.2d at 183. As a result, the grand jury issued a subpoena duces tecum on Robert Taylor, the president of the Bulletin and on Earl Selby, the paper’s city editor. The subpoena directed them to produce before the grand jury all material, documents, and tape recordings relating to Fitzpatrick’s disclosures to them and any material relating to independent investigations deriving from their discussions. Taylor and Selby appeared before the grand jury but refused to relinquish the requested material and documents and to answer certain related questions. They contended the Shield Law privileged them from disclosing the source of any information procured during the course of the preparation of the story. The lower court found them in contempt of court, and they appealed.
The Supreme Court expressly rejected the lower court’s determination that the phrase “source of information”, as *39used in the statute, includes only the identity of the person who disclosed the information, and it reversed the contempt citations. The term “source of information”, according to the Court, “means not only the identity of the person but likewise includes documents, inanimate objects and all sources of information.” Id., 412 Pa. at 40, 193 A.2d at 185 (emphasis deleted). This construction, according to the Court, accords with its view of the Shield Law as being:
[A] wise and salutary declaration of public policy whose spiritual father is the revered Constitutionally ordained freedom of the press. The Act must therefore, we repeat, be liberally and broadly construed in order to carry out the clear objective and intent of the Legislature which has placed, the gathering and the protection of the source of news as of greater importance to the public interest and of more value to the public welfare than the disclosure of the alleged crime or the alleged criminal.
Id., 412 Pa. at 42, 193 A.2d at 185-86 (footnote omitted) (emphasis in original).
Thus, the court concluded that all the notes and recordings of Fitzpatrick’s discussion with the Bulletin were protected by the Shield Law, except those portions of statements actually published or publicly disclosed. Although Fitzpatrick was the primary source of the information contained in the notes and recordings, non published information given by Fitzpatrick was protected because “the identity of many other persons may have been revealed in the questions and/or the answers.” Id., 412 Pa. at 43, 193 A.2d at 186. The Court’s position was taken in response to the lower court’s ruling that only the documents and recordings allegedly evidencing what Fitzpatrick had told reporters must be produced but with all the names deleted. This approach to balancing the interest of the public in the discovery of crimes with that of protecting the identity of confidential sources was apparently rejected by the Court as it stated:
*40If a Court can select or direct newsmen in its or their judgment to select or delete what information is disclosed by the informer or to furnish the documents in full with only the names deleted which the newsman or the Court sincerely believes should be deleted, the purpose, the object and the intent of the Act will be realistically nullified.
Id., 412 Pa. at 43-44, 193 A.2d at 186 (emphasis in original). The Court did not distinguish between confidential and nonconfidential subpoena materials, nor did it limit its holding to only those materials that would reveal the identity of the confidential source. Instead, the Court concluded that the term “source of information” includes and thereby protects from compelled disclosure the identity of an informant, as well as documents and recordings. Only those statements made by the informant waived by actual publication or public disclosure by the reporter are not afforded protection under the statute. Id., 412 Pa. at 44, 193 A.2d at 186.
By interpreting the phrase “source of information” as encompassing both the identity of the informant and the information itself, the Taylor Court adheres to the principal focus of the statute. The statute protects from disclosure the name of the informant and that information which would inferentially reveal an informant's identity.5 But Taylor appears to go one step further. The Court suggests, even after the primary source is revealed, that the mere possibility that secondary sources could similarly be revealed by compelled discovery of information is sufficient to invoke the protection of the statute. This position is *41predicated on the assumption that judicial involvement in the administration of the privilege would compromise the editorial process and freedom of the press. The Court, in so holding, seemingly forecloses inspection of documents by a court in order to make an evaluation to assure the nondisclosure of primary or secondary sources and, likewise, court instruction to a media defendant to produce only those materials not revealing the same. Consequently, as appellants urge, the Shield Law as construed in Taylor privileges them from disclosing information in and of itself, except those portions actually published or publicly disclosed. Hence, a carte blanche privilege of nondisclosure of information is given to reporters, and waiver of that privilege by the reporter extends only to information “actually published or publicly disclosed and not to other statements made by the informer to the newspaper.” Id., 412 Pa. at 44, 193 A.2d at 186.
Appellants contend that the Taylor decision applies with equal force in the context of a libel action. Taylor has been analyzed in this setting.
In Steaks Unlimited, Inc. v. Deaner, 623 F.2d 264 (3rd Cir.1980), a case factually analogous to the cases sub judice, the Pennsylvania Shield Law was construed by the Third Circuit to accord protection to filmed outtakes sought to be produced in a defamation suit brought against WTAE-TV, a Pittsburgh station. WTAE-TV broadcast a news segment raising questions about the quality of meat sold by Steaks. During the broadcast, a portion of an interview conducted by a WTAE-TV reporter with Aubrey Mills, an employee of Steaks, was aired. Other Steak’s employees were interviewed, but their names were not disclosed during the broadcast. Steaks, an Ohio based corporation, commenced a defamation suit against WTAE-TV in federal court based on diversity of citizenship. During pre-trial discovery, Steaks requested that WTAE-TV produce the outtakes of the Mill’s interview that had not been included in the broadcast. Additionally, Steaks requested the outtakes of. interviews of two customers whose identities had *42not been disclosed. The Third Circuit court, applying Pennsylvania law, held that the Shield Law, as construed in Taylor, clearly protected the discovery of the outtakes of the interviews with the two customers whose identities had not been disclosed, since compelling production would reveal their identities as primary sources of information. More pertinent, the court construed Taylor as protecting all nonpublished portions of a source’s statements from compulsory disclosure because of the Taylor concern that disclosure of statements not actually published or publicly disclosed might reveal the identity of secondary sources. Id. at 279.6
Appellants urge that Taylor, as construed in Hepps v. Philadelphia Newspapers Inc., 3 Pa.D.C.3d 693 (1977) (lower court decision reversed on other grounds) and in Steaks Unlimited, erects an impenetrable barrier to the enforcement of the discovery order at issue here. However, neither Hepps nor Steaks Unlimited carry the force of binding precedent on this Court7, and indeed, neither case heeds the fundamental right of reputation impressed upon the Pennsylvania Constitution. Inasmuch as the Taylor case arose in the context of a grand jury proceeding rather than in the setting of a libel action, it is not controlling here. The Taylor Court did not have before it a plaintiff seeking to vindicate his fundamental constitutional right.8
*43Article 1, section 1 of the Pennsylvania Constitution provides:
All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent and indefeasible rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property arid reputation, and of pursuing their own happiness, (emphasis supplied)
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has stated that the “protection of one’s reputation is a fundamental right classified with life, liberty and property.” Moyer v. Phillips, supra, (emphasis supplied); see also, Wolfe v. Beal, supra; Matson v. Margiotti, supra; Meas v. Johnson, supra; In re Sharpe, supra; Commonwealth v. Swallow, supra. The vindication and restoration of one’s reputation is further etched into the Pennsylvania Constitution in article 1, section 7, the freedom of speech and press clause, and in article 1, section 11, the legal remedies clause. Article 1, section 7 provides:
The printing press shall be free to every person who may undertake to examine the proceedings of the Legislature or any branch of government, and no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereof. The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man, and every citizen may freely speak, write and print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty, (emphasis supplied)
Article 1, section 11 provides:
All courts shall be open; and every man for an injury done him in his lands, goods, person or reputation shall have remedy by due course of law, and right and justice administered without sale, denial or delay ... (emphasis supplied)
The former section assures that freedom of the press cannot preclude a defamation action and the latter section expressly recognizes a remedy to one whose reputation has *44been injured. These provisions, then, make clear that the citizens of this Commonwealth enjoy a fundamental right in the protection of reputation, see Moyer v. Phillips, supra, and are given a remedy to right any wrong done to it. Accordingly, a limitation upon that remedy through the operation of a testimonial privilege must be scrutinized.9 Where the operation of a testimonial privilege would deny a plaintiff the ability to pursue the vindication of his fundamental right through a defamation action to an extent that the right is impermissibly impaired or nullified, it cannot be condoned. Where there is a right and no remedy, there is no right. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5101; Art. I, § 11, Pa. Constitution.
Severe barriers face appellees in the instant matter. Appellees must meet their burden of proving the defamatory character of the broadcasts and that the television audience understood the broadcasts as having a defamatory meaning.10 Assuming that appellees can meet this burden, they must then, in a given situation, rebut appellants’ assertion of qualified privilege by proving its abuse.11 In order to establish abuse of qualified privilege, appellees must prove, *45dependent on their status as defamation plaintiffs, that the broadcasts were either maliciously or negligently made.12 In particular, comparison of the film segments actually broadcast with outtakes possibly favorable to appellees, and undisclosed by appellants would be crucial in proving the requisite degree of constitutional fault.13 Compare Purcell v. Westinghouse Broadcasting Co., 411 Pa. 167, 181, 191 A.2d 662, 669 (1963). Such a showing could have the effect of vitiating the assertion of qualified privilege by appellants. Appellants’ contention that the Shield Law creates an absolute privilege of nondisclosure of outtakes that may reveal a source of information would effectively deny appellees the opportunity to vindicate their legal guarantee. Taylor cannot be construed as sanctioning such a result, and I believe such an interpretation would be impermissible as a matter of state constitutional law.14
*46Furthermore, I am convinced the Taylor Court would have recognized the inherent unfairness of a media defendant’s asserting the defense of truth, when a libel plaintiff is required to prove the requisite degree of constitutional fault without crucial objective evidence from which the critical element of fault could be inferred. Herbert v. Lando, 441 U.S. 153, 99 S.Ct. 1635, 60 L.Ed.2d 115 (1979) makes this point.
Noting that evidentiary privileges in litigation are disfavored,15 the United States Supreme Court held that the first amendment to the United States Constitution is not to be construed as creating an absolute discovery privilege for materials implicating the “editorial process”, i.e., materials that directly reveal the media defendant’s subjective state of mind. Id. at 169, 99 S.Ct. at 1645, 60 L.Ed.2d at 129. See Curran v. Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc., 497 Pa. 163, 175, 439 A.2d 652, 658 (1981). The Court emphasized that an individual’s interest in his reputation is a “basic concern” and observed that a libel plaintiff would be severely hampered if direct evidence of the editorial process relevant to proving knowing or reckless disregard of truth was placed beyond his reach. Id. at 169, 99 S.Ct. at 1645, 60 L.Ed.2d at 129. The majority noted that foreclosing discovery of editorial processes would erect “an impenetrable barrier to the plaintiff’s use of such evidence” and “is a matter of some substance, particularly when defendants themselves are prone to assert their good faith belief in the truth of their publications, and libel plaintiffs are required to prove knowing or reckless falsehood with ‘convincing clarity’.” Id. at 170, 99 S.Ct. at 1646, 60 L.Ed.2d at 130. This rationale applies when a libel plaintiff’s burden is only to prove “some degree of culpability.” Herbert, supra at 172, 99 S.Ct. at 1646, 60 L.Ed.2d at 131; see also, Id. at 174-76, 99 S.Ct. at 1648-49, 60 L.Ed.2d at 132-33. Moreover, punitive damages may not be recovered by a private figure plaintiff absent a showing of “actual malice.” See, Hepps, supra, *47506 Pa. at 28, 485 A.2d at 388; Purcell v. Westinghouse Broadcasting Co., supra, 411 Pa. at 187, 191 A.2d at 672 (1963).
Indeed, the Supreme Court did not hold that it is unconstitutional as a matter of federal law for a state to establish a privilege against state of mind discovery through, as here, a Shield Law. Inquiry into the editorial processes vis-a-vis a comparison of outtakes with film actually broadcast could be absolutely foreclosed by legislative enactment, absent any countervailing constitutional right.16 Appellants’ construction of the Shield Law does as much. However, we do not think that the Taylor Court, presented with our facts, would have construed the Shield Law to permit this.17 Appellees’ right of reputation is more compelling than the public’s interest in the discovery of crimes which was found insufficient to warrant piercing the reporter’s shield in Taylor.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court in Hepps acknowledged that the Shield Law presented an obstacle to a plaintiff who finds it necessary to prove the falsity of the defamatory publication in establishing fault but noted that the Shield Law “was never intended to be interpreted as insulating the publisher from its negligence or actual malice.” Hepps, supra, 506 Pa. at 328 n. 14, 485 A.2d at 387 n. 14.
Thus, we are led to conclude that a viewing of the outtakes would be an important means of determining appellants’ culpability or innocence, and we think, a means least intrusive into the editorial process. No salutary purpose would be served by a construction of the Shield Law permitting a media defendant to avoid discovery and the truthfinding process by hiding behind the veil of disclosure of possible secondary sources, where the vindication of a libel plaintiff’s constitutional right is at stake. Inasmuch as *48the Shield Law was enacted to protect the identity of sources and the confidential communications between the source and the reporter, we fail to see that any purpose would be served by protecting from disclosure such nonconfidential material as was ordered to be produced by KYW and NEP here.
The lower court’s order, carefully worded so as to assure no discovery of materials would be permitted that would lead to the disclosure of a primary or secondary source, accommodates the competing interests of the parties. A similar modification of the order in NEP (to eliminate possible discovery of identity of sources) would cure any possible infirmity in that order. However, for the reasons given below, even this careful procedure is not essential. Although there is language in Taylor suggesting that judicial involvement in the administration of the privilege would “realistically nullify” the Act, we can only conclude that participation by the lower court would be permissible given the reputation interest vouchsafed by the Pennsylvania Constitution. However, appellants urge that if the Shield Law does not protect them from compelled disclosure of the outtakes, then a limited privilege grounded in the first amendment does.

First Amendment

Appellants argue the documentary material and outtakes ordered to be produced by the lower courts are protected by a qualified privilege emanating from a first amendment protection accorded the news gathering process.18
In Branzburg v. Hayes, et al., 408 U.S. 665, 92 S.Ct. 2646, 33 L.Ed.2d 626 (1972), the Supreme Court held that the freedom of the press clause does not accord a reporter a privilege against testifying before a grand jury as to the identity of a source or as to confidential information, where *49the inquiry is made in good faith and the information was relevant to the grand jury investigation. A close reading of Branzburg does, however, lead to the conclusion that a qualified privilege to safeguard confidential sources and confidential materials exists, since the privilege would further the first amendment interest in the free flow of news. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has read Branzburg as creating a limited constitutional right to gather news. In McLaughlin v. Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc., 465 Pa. 104, 110, 348 A.2d 376, 379 (1975), the Court quoted from Branzburg:
‘Nor is it suggested that news gathering does not qualify for First Amendment protection; without some protection for seeking out the news, freedom of the press could be eviscerated. Id. at 681, 92 S.Ct. at 2656, 33 L.Ed.2d at 639 (Opinion of the Court, per White, J.).’
‘No less important to the news dissemination process is the gathering of information. News must not be unnecessarily cut off at its source, for without freedom to acquire information the right to publish would be impermissibly compromised. Accordingly, a right to gather news, of some dimensions, must exist.’ Id. at 728, 92 S.Ct. at 2673, 33 L.Ed.2d at 667 (Stewart, J., dissenting), (emphasis supplied).
Accord McMullan v. Wohlgemuth, 453 Pa. 147, 162-63, 308 A.2d 888, 896 (1973), appeal dismissed 415 U.S. 970, 94 S.Ct. 1547, 39 L.Ed.2d 863 (1974).
However, the right to gather news protected by the first amendment is not absolute, and the right of the press to gather news must yield to a showing of a paramount state interest. McLaughlin v. Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc., supra; McMullan v. Wohlgemuth, supra; see also Petition of Daily Item, 310 Pa.Super. 222, 234, 456 A.2d 580, 587 (1983); (Beck, J. concurring).19
*50As a threshold matter, we need not belabor our view expressed in the first part of this dissent, that the interests of a libel plaintiff are sufficiently compelling and a matter of weighty governmental interest warranting a consideration of the competing interests. See Wolfe v. Beal, supra; Moyer v. Phillips, supra. The United States Supreme Court in Herbert v. Lando, supra, reaffirms the view that the interests of an allegedly defamed individual are important ones. Furthermore, we think there is a paramount public interest in the fair administration of justice bottomed on the ascertainment of truth, though the interests competing here are not between government and the press but between private litigants and the press. Compare Branzburg, supra, and Garland v. Torre, 259 F.2d 545 (2nd Cir.1958), cert. denied 358 U.S. 910, 79 S.Ct. 237, 3 L.Ed.2d 231 (1958) with Carey v. Hume, 492 F.2d 631 (D.C.Cir.1974), cert. dismissed, 417 U.S. 938, 94 S.Ct. 2654, 41 L.Ed.2d 661 (1974).20
*51In the instant cases, the cogent argument for the application of a qualified privilege is that the dissemination of information to the public would flow less freely if the press’s confidential communicants were not assured of their anonymity, or if information revealing their identities was disclosed. The core of this argument is challenged in the present context since the outtakes and documentary materials ordered to be produced are non-confidential in nature and their production would have a scant effect, if any, on the media’s right to gather information. Of those nine named individuals in the lower court’s order in KYW, none are confidential sources, and all but two appear in the KYW-TV broadcasts.21 In NEP, the demand for outtakes is even more limited in that the only outtakes requested are from recorded interviews with the appellee. Hence, the interest of appellants in maintaining the confidentiality of sources is not compelling when placed beside appellees’ need for the outtakes in order to vindicate their reputation interest. In these cases, there is not need or interest in the source of the reports as the information sought concerns the state of mind of the appellants and not the source of their information. The scope of a privilege should be limited by the purpose that it serves. See e.g., Roviaro v. U.S., 353 U.S. 53, 77 S.Ct. 623, 1 L.Ed.2d 639 (1957).
Appellants, however, insist appellees must demonstrate the relevancy, materiality and necessity of the documentary material and outtakes prior to disclosure in order to strike a proper balance of the competing interests here. See e.g., Riley v. City of Chester, 612 F.2d 708 (3rd Cir.1979). We concur that inquiry into a reporter’s confidential sources or *52confidential materials would require a court to examine closely the relevancy, materiality and necessity of the discovery request, as well as view such discovery request in light of the nature of the proceeding and the status of the reporter in the subject lawsuit. Such inquiry is not necessary here. The instant cases do not place a defendant’s sixth amendment right to compel testimony against the press’ first amendment interest. See Branzburg, supra. Nor does it involve a civil action where a non-party journalist is compelled to reveal a confidential source. See e.g., Riley, supra; Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corporation, 563 F.2d 433 (10th Cir.1977); Baker v. F & F Investment, 470 F.2d 778 (2nd Cir.1972), cert. denied, 411 U.S. 966, 99 S.Ct. 2147, 36 L.Ed.2d 686 (1973) (identity of source did not go to heart of appellant’s case); Garland v. Torre, supra (identity of source went to heart of libel claim); Gulliver’s Periodicals, Ltd. v. Chas. Levy Circulating Co., 455 F.Supp. 1197 (N.D. 711 1978). Nor does it involve a case where the news gatherer is a party defendant in a libel suit and the disclosure of the identity of a confidential source is sought. See e.g., Bruno & Stillman, Inc. v. Globe Newspaper Company, 224 Ct.Cl. 583, 633 F.2d 583 (1st Cir.1980); Miller v. Transamerican Press, Inc., 621 F.2d 721 (5th Cir.1980), cert. denied 450 U.S. 1041, 101 S.Ct. 1759, 68 L.Ed.2d 238 (1981); Carey v. Hume, supra; Cervantes v. Time, Inc., 464 F.2d 986 (8th Cir.1972), cert. denied 409 U.S. 1125, 93 S.Ct. 939, 35 L.Ed.2d 257 (1973); Dow Jones & Company, Inc. v. Superior Court, 364 Mass. 317, 303 N.E.2d 847 (1973).
Instead, the instant case involves the discovery of non-confidential materials and outtakes in a libel suit against a defendant newsgatherer where the veracity of the news-gatherer’s information is directly at issue. As Herbert v. Lando, supra makes plain, the editorial process is not immune from scrutiny so long as the requested information is not “merely to satisfy curiosity or to serve some general end as the public interest”, but rather involves a “specific claim of injury arising from a publication that is alleged to *53have been knowingly or recklessly false.” Id. at 174, 99 S.Ct. at 1648, 60 L.Ed. at 132-33. This test is met here.
Therefore, I would hold appellants are not privileged under the first amendment to withhold the outtakes ordered to be produced.22
CONCLUSION
I would hold appellants are not privileged to withhold the documentary materials and outtakes under the Shield Law. I would also hold appellants are not privileged to withhold the documentary materials and outtakes under the first amendment.
The lower court’s orders accommodate the countervailing interests of the parties to this appeal. The orders have no deleterious effect upon the press’s function nor upon its interest in maintaining the confidentiality of its sources. Appellees, on the other hand, will be given a legitimate opportunity to vindicate their rights. Compliance with the order is premised on the good faith of appellants and at this time necessitates neither an in camera inspection by the lower court nor other measures to ensure compliance. I would affirm the orders of the lower courts.

. "Outtakes" are nonconfidential, non-broadcast portions of film or videotape “shot" in preparation for a news broadcast.

. Act of July 9, 1976, P.L. 586 No. 142 § 2; 42 Pa.C.S.A. 5942(a). This is substantially a re-enactment of Act of June 25, 1937, P.L. 2123 No. 433, § 1, as amended December 1, 1959, P.L. 1669, § 1, as amended July 31, 1968, P.L. 858, § 1, 28 P.S. § 330.

 Our reading of the record indicates that this individual is named Richard A. Will.

. See Comment, 77 Harv.L.Rev. 556 (1964); Comment, 112 Pa.L.Rev. 438 (1964); see also In re Taylor, 412 Pa. 32, 45, 193 A.2d 181, 187 (1963) (Cohen, J., dissenting).

. The version of the Shield Law, 28 P.S. § 330, in effect in Taylor provided:
No person, engaged on, connected with, or employed by any newspaper of general circulation as defined by the laws of this *38Commonwealth, ... for the purpose of gathering, procuring, compiling, editing or publishing news, shall be required to disclose the source of any information procured or obtained by such person, in any legal proceeding, trial or investigation before any court, grand jury, traverse or petit jury, or any officer thereof, ...
The Taylor Court interpreted § 330 as also protecting radio and television stations. Id., 412 Pa. at 41 n. 4, 193 A.2d at 185 n. 4.

. Accord, Hepps, supra, 506 Pa. at 328, 485 A.2d at 387. In Hepps, the Supreme Court did not address the meaning of "source of information” although it appears certain that the outer boundary of protection would extend to information that would implicate the identity of the source.
The court held that in a libel suit brought by a private individual for compensatory damages resulting from defamatory material, the presumption of falsity remains and the defendant has the option of proving truth as an absolute defense to the action under Pennsylvania law.

. See Lal v. CBS, Inc., 551 F.Supp. 364 (E.D.Pa.1982); Mazzella v. Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc., 479 F.Supp. 523 (E.D.N.Y.1979); Altemose Construction Company v. Building and Construction Trades Council of Philadelphia, 443 F.Supp. 489 (E.D.Pa.1977); see also Pesavento v. Wilkes-Barre Independent Company, 13 Pa.D. & C.3d 216 (1979).

. We, of course, are not bound by a decision by an inferior state court, and federal decisions, while persuasive, do not carry the force of binding precedent on us. Commonwealth v. Geschwendt, 500 Pa. 120, 454 A.2d 991 (1982); Radar v. Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, 407 Pa. 609, 182 A.2d 199 (1962).

. The majority, in footnote 12, extensively discourses on the inapplicability of the constitutional privilege to protect ones reputation and the legislative right to restrict the judicial means to vindicate that right. For the reasons discussed infra, I would hold the defamation action was the legislative response to that constitutional right and the legisla*43ture could not have intended that the media, apart from all others, was provided immunity from that action.

. See Elkins v. United States, 364 U.S. 206, 234, 80 S.Ct. 1437, 1454, 4 L.Ed.2d 1669, (1960) (Frankfurter, J„ dissenting):
Limitations are properly placed upon the operation of this general principle [of no testimonial privilege] only to the very limited extent that permitting a refusal to testify or excluding relevant evidence has a public good transcending the normally predominant principle of utilizing all rational means for ascertaining truth.
See also 8 J. Wigmore, Evidence § 2192 (McNaughton rev. 1961).

. 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 8343(a) provides:
(a) Burden of plaintiff. — In an action for defamation, the plaintiff has the burden of proving, when the issue is properly raised:
(1) The defamatory character of the communication.
(2) Its publication by the defendant.
(3) Its application to the plaintiff.
(4) The understanding by the recipient of its defamatory meaning.
(5) The understanding by the recipient of it as intended to be applied to the plaintiff.
(6) Special harm resulting to the plaintiff from its publication.
(7) Abuse of a conditionally privileged occasion.
See Corabi v. Curtis Publishing Co., 441 Pa. 432, 273 A.2d 899 (1971).

. See note 9, supra.

. 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 8344 provides:
In all civil actions for libel, no damages shall be recovered unless it is established to the satisfaction of the jury, under the direction of the court as in other cases, that the publication has been maliciously or negligently made, but where malice or negligence appears such damages may be awarded as the jury shall deem proper.

. As pointed out by the Supreme Court in Hepps, supra, 506 Pa. at 325 n. 13, 485 A.2d at 395, n. 13, in many cases as a practical matter the plaintiff will find it necessary to prove the falsity of the publication to establish the element of fault. Hence, a plaintiffs need for outtakes is even more real. While the documentary materials ordered to be produced in NEP would not present the same graphic contract between the published material, that which was withheld, the same rationale applies to the need for that information.

. Compare Paul v. Davis, 424 U.S. 693, 96 S.Ct. 1155, 47 L.Ed.2d 405 (1976) where the Supreme Court held that an allegation of injury to reputation by a public official acting within the course of his duty, without official approval, failed to state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Fourteenth Amendment. The interest in reputation was neither "liberty” nor "property" recognized by federal law nor vouchsafed under the Kentucky Constitution. Although the Kentucky Constitution, Art. 1 § 14 parallels Pennsylvania Constitution, Art. 1 §11, the Kentucky constitutional scheme does not make reputation a fundamental right. Pennsylvania does extend to its citizens a legal guarantee of present enjoyment of reputation. Art. 1 § 1. See Moyer v. Phillips, supra; see also McKnight v. Southeastern Pa. Transp. Auth., 438 F.Supp. 813 (E.D.Pa.1977); Reilly v. Leonard, 459 F.Supp. 291, 296 n. 4 (D.C.Conn.1978).

. See note 9, supra, quoted in Herbert v. Lando, supra at 176 n. 24, 99 S.Ct. at 1648 n. 24, 60 L.Ed.2d at 133 n. 24.

. See Maressa v. N.J. Monthly, 89 N.J. 176, 445 A.2d 376 (1982).

. It does no good for the majority to maintain that the legislature in amending the Shield Law, subsequent to Taylor, to include broadcast media, incorporated Taylor, as we do not seek to overrule Taylor but to distinguish it.

. We note that appellants do not rely on the state guarantee of freedom of the press, article 1, section 7. This provision is construed as affording the press no greater freedom than its federal counterpart. See McMullan v. Wohlgemuth, 453 Pa. 147, 308 A.2d 888 (1973).

. In McLaughlin, the court balanced the press’s right to acquire impounded court records of a disciplinary proceeding against the *50state’s interest in preserving the expectation of privacy and confidentiality accorded a private attorney made the subject of a disciplinary hearing. The court held "the freedom of the press is not violated by denying the [newspaper] access to court records of a disciplinary proceeding against a private lawyer, now in public office, concerning matters which were non-criminal and non-governmental in nature, for such proceeding was conducted with the expectation that it would remain confidential and an impoundment order was duly entered in accordance with standard practice, and where the lawyer involved desires that the confidentiality be maintained.” Id., 465 Pa. at 119, 348 A.2d at 383. In McMullan, supra, the press’s desire to acquire names and addresses of welfare recipients was balanced against the court's desire to maintain the welfare recipients’ right to privacy as reflected in the Public Welfare Code. The court found that the privacy of the welfare recipient outweighs any non-absolute right of the press to gather news and upheld the statutory ban against disclosure of names and addresses of welfare recipients. Id., 453 Pa. at 165, 308 A.2d at 897. The court declined to hold that the press had a constitutional right of access to the names and addresses.

. In Garland v. Torre, supra, an Opinion written by Circuit Judge Stewart, later Justice Stewart, singer, Judy Garland, sued Columbia Broadcasting Systems, Inc. for defamation which was based on a newspaper column written by columnist, Torre, attributing the allegedly defamatory remarks to an unnamed CBS executive. In an attempt to learn the name of the unnamed executive, proceedings were commenced to compel Torre to ansiyer. The Second Circuit upheld the District Court’s contempt sentence. The court held the *51press’s first amendment interest must yield to the paramount public ■interest in the fair administration of justice. The court emphasized that the identity of the source of the allegedly defamatory remarks went to the heart of Garland’s claim. In Carey v. Hume, supra, the D.C. Circuit affirmed the District Court’s order directing the defendant newsman to disclose the source of information upon which his allegedly defamatory newspaper article was based.

. Ben Wolf and Francis. Rizzo are named in the lower court's order and neither appeared on the broadcasts. There are no outtakes to be produced regarding them.

. That part of the lower court’s order compelling the production of "... transcripts, memoranda, etc., prepared by the I-Team, of statements by or interviews with plaintiff, George Hatchard ...” merely duplicates the production of the outtakes. We consider this part of the order as surplus.