§ 22.022.Purpose

A purpose clause that names both sides of the balance, which is unusual and deliberate.

The purpose is to increase the free flow of information and preserve a free and active press and, at the same time, to protect the right of the public to effective law enforcement and the fair administration of justice.

"At the same time" is the drafting choice that matters. A purpose clause reciting only press freedom would push every ambiguity in the journalist’s favour. This one instructs the reader that the subchapter is a compromise and was meant to be.

That framing tells you what to expect from the operative provisions, and they deliver it: the privilege is qualified, not absolute, and the section on limited disclosure sets out what a party must establish before a journalist can be compelled.

The two interests named on the other side are distinct. Effective law enforcement is about investigations and prosecutions; the fair administration of justice reaches the civil litigant who cannot prove their case without the journalist’s material. A defamation defendant and a criminal prosecutor invoke different halves of the same clause.

"Increase the free flow of information" states the theory behind every shield law. Sources talk to reporters when they can rely on not being identified, so protecting the journalist protects the flow of information to the public rather than the journalist personally.

The subchapter is known as the Free Flow of Information Act, and this section is where the name comes from.