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.

A Reporter's Guide to American Indian Law

This guide was compiled by Reporters Committee legal intern Peter Saharko, and was funded by the Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation.

Newsgathering

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Entering the private property of another

Type:

ESSAY

Closely related to the privacy tort of intrusion on seclusion is trespass. Whereas intrusion usually involves an electronic or mechanical invasion into the private affairs of another, trespass requires a physical invasion of someone's property. As with intrusion, the violation arises from the act of unauthorized entry, not from the publication of information obtained there.

Media access to prisons

Type:

ESSAY

The public has a limited right of access to the prison system, and the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently ruled that the media have no right beyond that. These restrictions are justified by prison administration and security interests, as well as concerns about the effects of media attention on relationships among inmates.

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Newsgathering

A Reporter's Guide to American Indian Law

Entering the private property of another

Media access to prisons

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