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    Digital Journalist's Legal Guide
    Tablet and mobile phone showing news online

    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.

    Newsgathering

    This section covers many of the issues that journalists encounter as they're on the streets trying to gather news, including being stopped by police for reporting on or photographing at an emergency scene, being held back because you've been denied credentials, and being kept off of public or private property while covering a story. While reporters don't have a greater right of access than the general public, officials sometimes go out of their way to interfere with journalists simply because they are reporting to a larger audience. This section also covers controversies involving interviewing prisoners.

    What to expect if you can't avoid arrest

    Date: 
    February 1, 2012

    The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press offers some tips on how to avoid common problems experienced by reporters while covering demonstrations and other mass public events, and provides some insight about what to expect if you are arrested during one of them.

    Journalists should be prepared for a large-scale disturbance by always carrying several essential items, including:

    A way forward

    Date: 
    February 1, 2012

    By Kirsten Berg

    During the cold winter months, the issue of police-press relations while covering the Occupy protests quieted somewhat. Cities have quietly dropped charges against some journalists, though others still await trail for alleged offenses. In some incidents across the U.S., journalists have contemplated legal action, but thus far no concrete challenge has seen its day in court.

    No fly zone

    Date: 
    February 1, 2012

    Unjustified temporary flight restrictions ground journalists

    By Andrea Papagianis

    The right to record in the wrong places

    Date: 
    February 1, 2012

    Documenting police arrests with smart phones increases — with consequences

    By Chris Healy

    Woman faced 15 years for recording police

    Date: 
    February 1, 2012

    By Chris Healy

    The two cases currently on appeal in the Illinois Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals (7th Cir.) are not the only ones involving the Illinois eavesdropping law. In January, Tiawanda Moore filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city of Chicago, alleging that officers violated her Fourth Amendment rights when they arrested her for recording two police officers who she said were interfering with her attempts to file a complaint.

    Cases and statutes cited in this guide

    Date: 
    February 1, 2012

    Am. Civil Liberties Union of Ill. v. Alvarez, No. 10 C 5235, 2011 WL 66030 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 10, 2011), appeal docketed, No. 11-1286 (7th Cir. Feb. 4, 2011)

    Berglund v. City of Maplewood, Minn., 173 F. Supp. 2d 935 (D. Minn. 2001)

    Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971)

    Glik v. Cunniffe, 655 F.3d 78 (1st Cir. 2011)

    Iacobucci v. Boulter, 193 F.3d 14 (1st Cir. 1999)

    Convention/event hotlines

    Date: 
    February 1, 2012

    The Reporters Committee will be operating special hotlines for journalists during the G8/NATO Summits in Chicago in May, as well as the two national political party conventions in late summer.

    G-8/NATO Summits
    May 15-22, Chicago
    Mandell Menkes LLC

    Republican National Convention
    Aug. 27-30, Tampa, Fla.
    Thomas & LoCicero

    Democratic National Convention
    Sept. 3-6, Charlotte, N.C.:
    McGuireWoods LLP

    Police, Protesters and the Press

    Date: 
    February 1, 2012

    How a wave of protests across the nation has tested police-press relations, and what it means for journalists who cover them.

    “I’m with the press! I’m with the press!” a reporter yelled out as he was getting arrested. “I’ve got a press pass!”

    After an arrest

    Date: 
    February 1, 2012

    A journalist’s guide to civil rights claims and other remedies for government interference with newsgathering activities

    The immunity issue

    Date: 
    February 1, 2012

    One of the most significant impediments to a successful civil rights claim is the government’s invocation of qualified immunity. Under this doctrine, government officials are shielded from civil liability if their conduct did not violate clearly established rights of which a reasonable person would have known. Even if officials violated a well-established right, they may still be entitled to immunity if they can show that their actions were objectively reasonable in light of the law and the information they had at the time of the action.