Imagine that you are the owner and publisher of "Downtown Lowdown," an online-only news and commentary website devoted to covering the seedy side of life in your city (which isnotReno). An unpaid intern for "Downtown Lowdown" recently captured 120 photos of a fight that broke out on a public street in front of a popular nightclub. (The fight resulted in no injuries, but some property was damaged.) The next day, you featured two of the photos on the home page of "Downtown Lowdown." Local police are investigating what prompted the fight and who might be responsible for the property damage, and the first step in their investigation has been to issue a subpoena to you demanding that your website provide them with the unpublished photos of the fight.

Your state has a shield law, which states, in full:

No reporter who is regularly engaged in the process of gathering, editing, or publishing news can be forced to reveal unpublished information or sources.

This privilege does not apply if the party seeking the information can show all of the following: a) the information sought is directly relevant to a case or investigation, b) the information sought cannot be obtained from other sources, and c) the public interest in obtaining the information outweighs the public interest in maintaining its confidentiality.

1. Is this an absolute or qualified shield law? Explain how you know.
2. Could you successfully use the shield law to refuse to comply with the subpoena? Explain why or why not. Be sure to address all parts of the law.