It has been a painful decade for the news business. The Pew Research Center estimates 28,000 journalists lost newsroom jobs between 2008 and 2018 as the industry continued to adjust to a less-revenue-friendly digital reality.
That makes the news that landed in my inbox Tuesday all the sweeter.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has selected Oregon as one of five states where journalists will have access to pro bono legal support through the Local Legal Initiative. Colorado, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Tennessee were also selected.
The Reporters Committee will employ a lawyer in each state to help local media defend against legal threats and lawsuits, assist with public records and provide pre-publication review of stories that could result in litigation.
The Local Legal Initiative was made possible by a $10 million investment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which has long supported local journalism.
“To hold power to account and fulfill their role as watchdogs for democracy, journalists must be able to go to court. Yet, many local news organizations are struggling financially and are unable to take up this cause,” said Jennifer Preston, Knight Foundation vice president for journalism, in a news release.
She’s right. Enterprise journalism can be expensive. It’s not uncommon in the course of reporting for a government or agency to refuse to provide public documents or to charge a ridiculous fee for records. Sometimes all it takes is a letter from an attorney to get documents released.
A potentially more significant legal cost can come when the subject of a story threatens to sue.
Some threats are legit. Others are bluster. All of them, however, have to be taken seriously. Defending against a defamation, slander or libel lawsuit can cost tens of thousands of dollars — even if you win the case.
One tool to mitigate the risk is a pre-publication review with a lawyer. I’ve been through several in my five years as editor. They are intense. The lawyer goes through the story line by line confirming facts and attributions, and questioning any word, phrase or piece of data that could prove problematic.
It is a considerable investment, which is why this pro bono legal support is so meaningful, particularly now.
The downsized industry has meant fewer reporters covering local politics, education, jobs, taxes, economic trends — topics that are much more central to our daily lives than anything going on in Washington D.C.
In a local news organization with limited resources, access to pro bono legal services can be the difference between an important story getting published or derailed.