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October 2, 2024
Growing Pro Bono Legal Support, Standing Up For Journalism
Why Projourn?The Challenge
In-depth reporting requires attorneys
America’s local news crisis is deepening. Many of the new and barely surviving newsrooms can’t afford media attorneys, which journalists need to report in-depth stories that matter to communities.
Freelance journalists, nonprofit news outlets, and newsrooms serving historically marginalized communities have a growing need for legal support, particularly around public records access and pre-publication review.
Attorneys can be powerful allies, but very few have the requisite experience to provide advice and counsel in media law.
Demand: Growing threats to local journalism
Learn More9 of 10
Supply: Quality legal resources exist, but more are needed
Learn MoreA new approach.
ProJourn, an innovative pro bono program operated by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, aims to “grow the bench” of attorneys standing up for journalism at this critical time when local news reporting faces dire challenges and democracy itself is at a crossroads.
ProJourn’s mission is to increase the supply of pro bono attorneys trained in pre-publication review and access to public records — two of the most critical editorial legal needs of journalists — and to meet the legal demands newsrooms face in an ever-changing news landscape, including business, 501(c)(3), and operations-related needs.
ProJourn was launched and incubated by Microsoft and Davis Wright Tremaine LLP for a couple of years and then joined the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Reporters Committee to expand the program.
ProJourn is now adding capacity to the Reporters Committee’s longstanding support for journalists, including its national litigation program, Local Legal Initiative, and Free Expression Legal Network, by bringing more law firms and in-house corporate attorneys into the mix.
Our Services
ProJourn operates nationally for pre-publication review and operations-related legal services, and in California, Georgia, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington for state public records matters.
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Pre-publication Review
Learn Moreabout Pre-publication ReviewWe review submissions (e.g., articles, podcasts, opinion pieces) identified by the journalist as potentially high risk, either because of the subject matter or the parties involved, and provide legal guidance for the journalist to consider.
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Public Records Access
Learn Moreabout Public Records AccessWe support journalists in creating a clearly written request for identifiable documents within a government agency’s possession, custody, or control, ensure that it’s done in a manner that is compliant with existing laws, and provide legal support in pursuing the request thereafter.
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Operations-related Legal Needs
Learn Moreabout Operations-related Legal NeedsNewsroom shutdowns and cutbacks have led many journalists to become nonprofit executive directors, human resources managers, and COOs as well as editors and newsgatherers. We provide legal services with newsroom business and operations-related legal needs through our extensive network of pro bono law firms.
“Everyday there are critical stories that need to be told, but they are held back, because journalists lack access to information that is supposed to be accessible, or they are threatened with a lawsuit. Through our legal support to journalists, we unblock these barriers. We provide this critical support, and we do so in a way that pulls more lawyers into the fold, ensuring the legal system offers a source of support to journalists and not a barrier to the truth.”
Sima Sarrafan, assistant general counsel, Microsoft
Founding Partners
