Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- October 26, 2021
- Targets
- WBBM-TV
- Legal Orders
-
-
subpoena
for
communications or work product
- Oct. 26, 2021: Pending
- Nov. 8, 2021: Objected to
- April 29, 2022: Upheld
- May 10, 2022: Objected to
- Oct. 20, 2022: Upheld
- Oct. 28, 2022: Carried out
-
subpoena
for
communications or work product
- Legal Order Target
- Institution
- Legal Order Venue
- Federal
Subpoena/Legal Order
A portion of the subpoena issued to CBS2 News seeking unpublished video and audio footage as part of a lawsuit against the Chicago Department of Education. — SCREENSHOT
Chicago CBS station ordered to turn over raw interview footage
CBS-owned WBBM-TV appealed an order requiring the broadcaster to turn over unpublished interviews as part of an ongoing lawsuit, but on Oct. 20, 2022, a judge in Chicago, Illinois, dismissed its arguments, according to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The station and two of its journalists — President and General Manager Derek Dalton and investigative reporter Dave Savini — were served identical subpoenas in 2021 seeking the footage from Savini’s interviews with a child who was allegedly beaten in a school bathroom and the child’s relative, who is accused of the assault.
WBBM-TV sent a letter objecting to all of the subpoenas in November 2021, but later that month the attorneys representing the child’s mother asked the court to compel the outlet to comply with a narrowed version of the subpoena. A magistrate judge upheld the subpoena in April 2022 and ordered the station to turn over the interview footage and audio by May 13.
On May 10, WBBM-TV appealed the ruling, arguing that the materials were protected by a federal reporter’s privilege and that disclosure would jeopardize the broadcaster’s ability to gather and report news to the public.
U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman overruled the outlet’s objections on Oct. 20, ordering it to produce the video footage by Oct. 28. No further filings appealing the order were filed by WBBM-TV, indicating that the outlet complied with the order.
A federal judge in Chicago, Illinois, upheld a subpoena on April 29, 2022, compelling CBS2 News to produce raw, unpublished video and audio footage as part of a lawsuit brought by a mother on behalf of her son.
According to court documents, the subpoena ordered CBS2 News to produce footage collected after a reporter interviewed the child, who was allegedly beaten in a school bathroom with belts provided by his teacher, and the child’s relative, who is accused of the assault.
The subpoena was originally issued to CBS2 News’ parent company, ViacomCBS, in June 2021 but was withdrawn on Oct. 21 after ViacomCBS objected, arguing that the media company was not the custodian of the footage.
On Oct. 26, lawyers for the plaintiff reissued identical subpoenas to a former CBS2 news editor, reporter Dave Savini and redirected ViacomCBS’ original subpoena to CBS Broadcasting, Inc. also known as CBS2 News, for footage gathered for a segment that aired in February 2019.
CBS2 objected to all of the subpoenas, stating that all materials were privileged newsgathering information. Attorneys for CBS2 also cited federal and state reporter’s privilege statutes, saying that collecting the files would be “unduly burdensome to produce.”
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit then filed a motion to compel CBS2 to produce the footage but agreed to narrow the scope, demanding only the video and audio outtake recordings of interviews with the child and accused assailant.
In her decision, United States Magistrate Judge Sheila Finnegan upheld the CBS2 subpoena and granted the motion to compel. Finnegan wrote that “there is no federal common-law reporter’s privilege applicable in this case, and CBS2 cannot withhold the requested audio/video outtakes on this basis.” The court ordered the outlet to produce the unreleased footage by May 13, 2022. The status of the other subpoenas is unknown.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
