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NEWS RELEASE: The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Reporters Committee names new executive director

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Oct. 28, 1999

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Gregg P. Leslie, (703) 807-2100

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reply with "remove" in the subject line.)

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Lucy A. Dalglish, a Minneapolis media attorney and

former newspaper reporter, has been named Executive Director of The

Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Dalglish, an award-winning First Amendment activist, will replace

Jane E. Kirtley, who left the Reporters Committee in August to take

a teaching position at the University of Minnesota. Dalglish, 40,

assumes her new post in January.

The Reporters Committee also announced that Gregg P. Leslie,

Acting Executive Director and managing editor of the organization's

numerous publications since 1994, has been named to the newly created

position of Legal Defense Director. "Gregg has wonderful ideas for

the Reporters Committee's future, and I look forward to working with

him to implement them," Dalglish said.

Dalglish, an attorney with Dorsey & Whitney since 1995, was a

reporter and editor for the St. Paul Pioneer Press from 1980 to 1993.

She is a recipient of the Wells Memorial Key, the highest honor

awarded by the Society of Professional Journalists.

"Lucy's journalism background, legal experience and record of

fighting for press rights and free speech make her the perfect choice

to lead the Reporters Committee," said John C. Henry, chair of the

RCFP executive committee.

Established 30 years ago, the Reporters Committee is an

unincorporated, voluntary association of journalists from around the

United States devoted to protecting the First Amendment rights of the

news media.

"This job is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Dalglish said.

"It combines my passions for journalism and law, and gives me a chance

to work with an outstanding staff to make a difference for journalists

across the country."

Dalglish is vice chair of the National Freedom of Information

Coalition, a Dallas-based network of groups working to improve public

and press understanding of their rights under the First Amendment and

various state laws governing access to information.

Dalglish frequently appears before journalism and law groups

on free speech issues. She has testified before congressional

committees and Clinton administration task forces advocating greater

public and press access to information compiled by the government.

Among her clients at Dorsey & Whitney, one of the nation's

50 largest law firms, are Disney/ABC Inc., KARE-TV, the Minnesota

Library Association, MSP Communications, the Student Press Law

Center, the Stillwater High School "Pony Express" and the Minnesota

Civil Liberties Union.

Dalglish was a board member for the Society of Professional

Journalists from 1988 to 1991 and chaired the organization's Freedom

of Information Committee from 1992 to 1995, volunteer work that

earned her the Wells Memorial Key.

In 1996, Dalglish was one of 24 journalists, lawyers,

legislators, librarians, educators, researchers and historians

inducted into the charter class of the National Freedom of Information

Act Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C.

In January, she was named to the American Library Association's

Intellectual Freedom "Roll of Honor" for her volunteer legal work for

libraries in the Upper Midwest.

Dalglish is a 1980 graduate of the University of North Dakota.

She was a journalism fellow at Yale Law School in 1987-88 while on

sabbatical from the Pioneer Press. She received her juris doctor

degree from Vanderbilt University in 1995.

While attending Vanderbilt, Dalglish worked as a research

assistant at the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center in Nashville.

She also was an editorial writer for The Tennessean newspaper in

Nashville.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press was founded

in 1970 by a group of journalists concerned about governmental

encroachments on journalists' rights guaranteed under the First

Amendment.

Since its inception, the Committee has provided cost-free legal

assistance to reporters and editors and has acted as an information

clearinghouse on a wide range of issues of concern to the news media.

In addition to participating in press freedom cases considered by

the Supreme Court, the Committee's expertise has been sought by

journalists and lawmakers in the U.S. and abroad as they wrestle

with laws governing press rights and access to government meetings

and records.

The Committee also operates the Freedom of Information Service

Center, which specializes in freedom of information and open

meetings issues at the state and federal levels.

The Committee publishes a quarterly magazine, The News Media &

the Law; a biweekly newsletter, New Media Update; and various

guidebooks designed to help journalists.

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