本文以數位時代的新聞自由議題為背景，探討網路媒體盛行下的部落客和公民記者所面臨的「記者特權」(reporter's privilege)爭議。本文先從比較法的觀點，探索美國法制過去數十年來如何處理「記者特權」的主張所引發的爭議，以及其所累積的法律解釋與適用原則，對於數位時代的部落客和公民記者，將產生怎樣的影響。本文認為：「記者」究竟該如何定義，一直未能取得共識的眾說紛紜結果，主宰了幾十年來關於「記者特權」爭議不休的局面，此一爭議的嚴重性和解決迫切性，隨著網路時代部落客和公民記者的出現而昇高，透過採取「功能取向」 (functional approach) 的方式，有條件地賦予部落客和公民記者「記者特權」，方足以維護新聞自由在數位時代裡的完整面貌。

This article explores the freedom of the press issues on reporters’ privilege generated by the rise of bloggers and citizen journalists against the backdrop of the Internet age. At first this article analyzes, using a comparative law approach, the reporter’s privilege doctrine developed during the last century in American legal system and then considers its applications in today’s digital lives. This article points out that the controversies surrounding the definition of “journalist” has dominated the discourse over the reporter’s privilege for several decades and has apparently become a pressing issues as the advent of the Internet gave rise to new media and unconventional way of reporting. It further suggests that any articulation of the reporter’s privilege must account for this changing nature of journalism and then proposes that all those who disseminate information to the public must be presumptively entitled to invoke the privilege’s protections. Finally, this article concludes by proposing a functional approach, a qualified privilege proposal under which the fundamental interest in preserving the value of freedom of the press and the other fundamental interest of justice and fairness will be appropriately reconciled.