About

An innovative approach to protect journalists by equipping them with pro bono legal help

Vision: Narrow the gap between journalists with stories to tell and attorneys able to support them.

Mission: 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 assist newsrooms in those legal areas, as well as business and operations-related needs.

Operating Framework

ProJourn provides pro bono legal assistance to local news organizations, newsroom journalists, editors, newsroom managers, independent journalists, documentary filmmakers, and podcast creators, with particular emphasis on journalists:

  • From and/or serving historically marginalized communities,
  • From and/or serving audiences whose first language is not English,
  • Located in rural areas and/or surrounded by news deserts.

ProJourn operates in accordance with Rule 6.1: Voluntary Pro Bono Public Service of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys.

ProJourn strives to provide support regardless of the content of the stories involved and is agnostic on the topics covered.

What We Do

Raising awareness

Reaching out to journalists to broaden their knowledge of legal resources and leveraging the corporate sector’s capacity to benefit journalists’ critical legal needs.

Training

Growing the supply of pro bono media lawyers by providing them with substantive training and helping journalists better know their rights by hosting attorney-led workshops.

Connecting

Meeting the demand of journalists’ editorial and operational legal needs by connecting them with pro bono attorneys in multiple languages.  

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.

  • Pre-publication Review

    We 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.

    Learn Moreabout Pre-publication Review

  • Public Records Access

    We seek to 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.

    Learn Moreabout Public Records Access

  • Operations-related Legal Needs

    Newsroom 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.

    Learn Moreabout Operations-related Legal Needs

Our Values

We strive to:

Be Responsive

to journalists’ needs and don’t operate on a one-size-fits-all basis.

Be Inclusive

by making our services accessible to the widest array of journalists, including those whose first language is not English

Founding Partners

Learn more about our Founding Partners