Press Rights

Press Rights

• 1.
  Press Rights
• 2.
  Today’s Concepts
• 4.
  Press Rights • Privilege – Fair report – Opinion – Fair comment and criticism • Freedom from Newsroom Searches – Unless you’re suspected of involvement in a crime, destruction of evidence, or someone could be hurt » Harrower P. 140
• 5.
  Press Rights • ShieldLaws – Allow reporters to protect, “shield” their confidential sources and notes; only in 34 (32?) states; no federal courts have shield laws, meaning, reporters choose between revealing their sources or going to jail. (Example: Judith Miller of the NYTimes) Harrower p.140
• 6.
  • Three keyareas: – Open courtrooms – Open meetings – Open records Harrower p.141
• 7.
  Harrower p.141
• 8.
  Harrower p.141
• 9.
  • Open Records– Key questions: – Material such as defense secrets, medical files, and sensitive law-enforcement data are exempt. Who categorizes the information? – Reporters can file a FOIA Request – Freedom of Information Act Harrower p.141
• 10.
  • Examples ofnews stories stemming from FOIA requests: – New York Daily News exposes government’s misrepresentation of “Ground Zero” environmental contamination – Dayton Daily News identifies most dangerous workplaces in the country – The money trail: mismanagement of funds for Hurricane Katrina victims (various media) » Source: Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
• 11.
  • “Although FOIAis an important source of information, reporters should recognize its limitations. Information obtained through a FOIA request is rarely the story itself. Rather, it can be used to verify other sources and information. Sometimes information obtained from a request can simply identify leads or sources for a story that the reporter later can follow up on in person.” » Source: Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press