Everything online journalists need to protect their legal rights. This free resource culls from all Reporters Committee resources and includes exclusive content on digital media law issues.
A group of Oklahoma state employees have asked a county judge to block state offices from releasing the birth dates of employees in response to a newspaper's public records request, The Oklahomanreported.
A Michigan federal court today ruled that Detroit Free Press reporter David Ashenfelter properly asserted his Fifth Amendment privilege against self incrimination, allowing him to keep the identities of confidential sources a secret.
The plaintiff, former U.S. prosecutor Richard Convertino, had been seeking the names of Ashenfelter's Justice Department sources since 2006 for a Privacy Act lawsuit.
The New Hampshire Supreme Court on Friday unanimously supported the state's Right-to-Know Law and ordered a private organization that represents public agencies to release its salary information, The Associated Pressreported.
A school committee can hold an open meeting on the overall competence of a superintendent even if the written performance evaluation is exempt from public disclosure, the Massachusetts high court has ruled.
Eleven media outlets sent a letter sent to the FDA Tuesday urging it to end a policy that requires journalists and agency employees to receive permission before conducting interviews, the Association of Health Care Journalists reported. The Reporters Committee was among the groups joining the effort.
Thirteen press groups including the Reporters Committee said Wednesday that speakers at conferences and other public events should stop demanding that their public comments be considered off the record, Editor & Publisherreports.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled today that the names of public employees must be released as public records, despite a union agreement to the contrary.
The decision came in a case centering around two records requests: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had sought the names of employees who lost the privilege of driving state-owned vehicles because of a poor driving record, while the Lakeland Times wanted the names of Department of Natural Resources employees.
Minnesota legislators are at odds over whether to keep information on public employees' on-the-side financial matters out of the public eye, the Star Tribunereports. A bill before the Senate would appear to keep that information from the public while the House version supports its release.
A former Baltimore police official's lawsuit, alleging his free-speech rights were violated when he was fired after leaking a memo to a newspaper, was revived Thursday in a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond (4th Cir.).
The Association of Health Care Journalists is looking for a little change it can believe in, pushing the Obama administration to dump policies in many federal agencies that require a flack's approval for, and monitoring of, news interviews with government employees.
