Paula Knudsen Burke: Tireless champion for press freedom, transparency in Pennsylvania

Paula Knudsen Burke, attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, is on the frontlines of the battle for government transparency and accountability in Pennsylvania. Local journalists, newsrooms, and the Pennsylvanians they inform are all better for it. 

Last year alone, Burke represented local media in lawsuits that shook loose public records about oversight of the state’s medical marijuana program, a prison contractor’s wrongful-death settlements, and the University of Pennsylvania’s investigation into student protests. 

She fended off a lawsuit intended to punish a small newspaper for its coverage of a state lawmaker and helped a journalist successfully challenge a county jail policy that effectively silenced its employees from speaking on matters of public concern. Burke also trained hundreds of journalists on public records access, newsgathering rights, legal risks at protests, and more. And she did it all at no cost to the reporters and news outlets she supported. 

Given Burke’s success spearheading the Reporters Committee’s Local Legal Initiative in the Keystone State, it may come as little surprise that her work is now earning statewide recognition. Most recently, she was named a finalist for Attorney of the Year for the 2025 Pennsylvania Legal Awards, which honors those whose work in 2024 “had a distinct impact on the law and the legal profession in Pennsylvania.”

Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, said Burke’s work is “absolutely essential to creating a legal environment that fosters journalism in the commonwealth.” Last year, PNA honored Burke with its Benjamin Franklin Award for Excellence for her “outstanding service to the news media industry.”

“Her work has not only helped our organization and the journalists we represent, but it’s helped the media throughout Pennsylvania, and, by extension, Pennsylvanians as a class of people,” Melewsky told the Reporters Committee in an interview. “​​Her work has changed the face of Pennsylvania law for the better, and it’s made Pennsylvania a more open, accessible, transparent, and responsive place to live.”

Mind of a lawyer, spirit of a journalist

At a time when local journalists and newsrooms face a growing culture of secrecy and legal obstacles that threaten their ability to pursue hard-hitting investigations, Burke plays a crucial hand in supporting reporters throughout the state. In her five years at the Reporters Committee, she has fielded more than 500 Legal Hotline inquiries and provided free legal support to local media in over 100 matters across Pennsylvania, from the northwest city of Erie to 400 miles away in Philadelphia.  

“My 2017 Subaru Crosstrek has a lot of miles on it, and it is filled with everything from kids sports things to legal filings and paper clips,” Burke said. “It’s like ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’ trying to get around the state.”

Before joining the Reporters Committee, Burke spent time in the legal and news media fields. Her first foray into journalism was at a young age as a writer for her elementary school newspaper. She stuck with it through her time at Pennsylvania State University, where she earned her undergraduate degrees and attended law school. She later helped launch The Caucus, a watchdog news publication in Pennsylvania, and served as an editor. That experience makes her a stronger media attorney, said journalist Brittany Hailer, who Burke represented in several cases.

“Sometimes I think it feels a little bit like attorneys and journalists are different breeds, but she walks those two worlds really well,” said Hailer, a staff writer at the Marshall Project and former director of the Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism.   

Hailer, represented by Burke, spent nearly three years fighting for documents she expected would shed light on the circumstances surrounding the death of a man in custody at the Allegheny County jail. The county sued Hailer in an unsuccessful bid to prevent the release of autopsy records that she eventually found out didn’t exist. Hailer said Burke’s tireless commitment to fighting secrecy helped “open up a door that was closed for a long, long time.”    

Burke said a highlight of her work in 2024 was obtaining a favorable settlement on behalf of The Erie Reader after a yearslong legal battle over an opinion column that the newspaper published, which criticized efforts by Rep. Mike Kelly and state Sen. Dan Laughlin to challenge the 2020 election results. Laughlin sued The Erie Reader in 2022 for defamation, alleging that the column included “false and baseless accusations about Senator Laughlin and his actions related to the 2020 election and January 6.”

The lawsuit was clearly a strategic lawsuit against public participation, or SLAPP, Burke said. These suits are attempts to intimidate or punish speech through expensive, meritless legal proceedings. Burke spent two years — and well over $500,000 worth of pro bono hours — fighting the lawsuit on behalf of The Erie Reader before settling the case.         

“Our clients paid no money; they made no admission of error; they did not apologize,” Burke said. 

Burke manages her busy docket with the help of a team of Reporters Committee legal fellows, including Ellen Goodrich, the Jack Nelson–Dow Jones Foundation Legal Fellow. Goodrich said she admires how far, literally and figuratively, Burke will go for her clients. 

One recent day, for example, Burke hurried to Lebanon County as part of her effort to unseal court records on behalf of a media coalition in a high-profile false police report case before she trekked roughly two hours to Philadelphia for another matter — all before noon. 

“She’s just the best,” Goodrich said. “She’s so fired up about all her cases and I feel like it’s really infectious, so it makes working with her super fun.”

The Legal Intelligencer and Law.com will announce the Attorney of the Year winner on June 12 at an awards dinner in Philadelphia. Burke said she’s grateful for the support of her colleagues at the Reporters Committee, “especially our pool of brilliant and hardworking fellows.”

“I really do think there’s something to be said for a team,” said Burke, a self-described “jock” who coaches rugby and cross country in her spare time. “I’m nominated for this award, but I could not be nominated for the award without the team.”

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is the leading pro bono legal services provider for journalists and news organizations in the United States, offering direct legal representation, amicus curiae support, and other legal resources to protect First Amendment freedoms and the newsgathering rights of journalists. Stay up-to-date on our work by signing up for our newsletters and following us on Bluesky, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.