News Media and the Law

COMMENTARYOne for the record books? A large court award in a public records or open meeting case is a rare event worth noting.The Northern Lights visible in the southern United States, the birth of an albino alligator, a large monetary award in an open...

GUEST COMMENTARYA change in attitude among public officials can erode access.Here are two stories from two different countries. The first occurred in the summer of 1979. I was a reporter with The Washington Post working with a partner on an investigative...

For the last 37 years, the Reporters Committee has diligently worked to educate the press and public about the perils of excessive government secrecy. We frequently get requests from reporters working on government secrecy stories for examples of officials...

The Reporters Committee operates a toll-free hotline for journalists with questions about free press and freedom of information issues. In this column, our attorneys discuss the latest hot-topic questions.Note: The attorneys' answers are not meant to...

Open meeting laws may apply to officials who communicate through instant messages.As advances in technology change the way people communicate and do business, states are grappling with the issues of how e-mailing and instant messaging fit into state...

A recent collection of funny, fascinating, nonsensical or just notable newsworthy quotations"I'll, like, listen... internalize, play like I'm going to answer the question, and then smile at you and just say, gosh - thanks, thanks for such a solid, sound...

Some of the recent clashes between police and journalists involve photographers arrested while covering the news.The list of reporters being arrested both on and off duty continues to grow.Freelance reporters, photographers and publishers have faced...

Government bodies that contract out their record-keeping can add a whole new layer of difficulty to gaining access.With only 16 full-time employees and a population of about 3,400, the tiny village of Thiensville, Wis., has to contract with private companies...

A familiar bill is the subject of new talks in Congress, as the House Judiciary Committee passes a shield bill for the first time.For what may be the first time ever, a reporter's shield bill - the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007 - has been sent...

Two recent cases show that concerns about judicial influence can mar the court proceedings when judges sue the media for libel.Judges in two recent cases have successfully sued newspapers for libel, reaping multimillion-dollar windfalls. However, one...

Well, I never thought it could happen, but I'm being sued for libel. All because of that post I wrote two days ago. Because I never expected anything like this, I might have to shut down my blog. This is what I've learned from this: Though defamation...