The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) is a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

based in Washington, D.C., that provides pro bono legal services and resources to and on behalf of

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

s. The organization pursues litigation, offers direct representation, submits ''amicus curiae'' briefs, and provides other legal assistance on matters involving the

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

press freedom Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...

, freedom of information, and court access issues.

History

The Reporters Committee was formed in 1970 after ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reporter Earl Caldwell was ordered to reveal his sources within the

Black Panthers The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California ...

. This led to a meeting among journalists—including J. Anthony Lukas, Murray Fromson, Fred Graham, Jack Nelson, Robert Maynard,

Ben Bradlee Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (, 1921 – , 2014) was an American journalist who served as managing editor and later as executive editor of ''The Washington Post'', from 1965 to 1991. He became a public figure when the ''Post'' joined ''The ...

, Tom Wicker, and

Mike Wallace Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. Known for his investigative journalism, he interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade car ...

, among others—to discuss the need to provide legal assistance and resources to protect journalists' First Amendment rights. The journalists in attendance formed a part-time committee dedicated to this issue, and they eventually garnered enough support from foundations and news organizations to build a staff and recruit attorneys willing to volunteer their services. Jack Landau, the Reporters Committee's first executive director, implemented many of the legal defense projects that are central to the organization today. He started the legal defense hotline for journalists seeking guidance on free press and information issues, the first magazine for the press devoted to news media law developments, and the first service center offering free help to the press on accessing federal and state public records. In the early years after its founding, the Reporters Committee was a plaintiff in several early test-case lawsuits, including efforts to seek access to 41 million of President Richard Nixon's White House documents and tapes, as well as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's official telephone transcripts. Other lawsuits sought access to FBI arrest records, and to block telephone companies from giving secret access to media telephone records. In 1985, Jane E. Kirtley replaced Landau as executive director. One of Kirtley's top priorities was ensuring journalists had access to knowledge of reliable legal resources. Under her direction, the Reporters Committee created the 'Open Government Guide', an online resource that reviews the open records and open meetings laws in every state and Washington, D.C. The guide includes expert commentary from attorneys who are familiar with the provisions of their state's code, as well as court rulings and informal practices that affect the public's ability to obtain copies of public documents and attend government meetings. 'Agents of Discovery' a series of installments reporting on subpoenas served to the news media, was another of Kirtley's major projects. Kirtley also led the Reporters Committee's efforts to produce 'The First Amendment Handbook', a tool that provides basic information about media law for reporters and newsrooms and helped launch a fellowship program for the next generation of media attorneys. Since 2012, Bruce Brown has served as the executive director of the Reporters Committee, and worked to expand the organization's pro bono legal services and resources. With the help of Legal Director Katie Townsend, who joined the organization in 2014, he has built a growing litigation practice that offers journalists and media organizations representation, amicus curiae support, and other legal services in cases involving public records and court access, subpoena and libel defense, and more. In 2014, the Reporters Committee led an effort to unseal transcripts of witness testimony in a grand jury investigation of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

''. The newspaper ran a front-page story about the

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of t ...

. The subsequent grand jury investigation of reporter

Stanley Johnston Stanley Johnston (1900 – September 13, 1962) was an Australian-American journalist who, as a correspondent during World War II, wrote a Japanese naval codes#Chicago Tribune incident, story for the ''Chicago Tribune'' that inadvertently rev ...

and the Tribune marks the only time in U.S. history that the government has attempted to prosecute a major newspaper for violating the Espionage Act for publishing leaked classified information. The Reporters Committee won the release of the transcripts, which are currently stored at the

National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

. The Reporters Committee has been a part of several cases involving law enforcement's impersonation of journalists. In 2014, it was revealed that the FBI had impersonated an Associated Press reporter during the course of a 2007 investigation. The Reporters Committee and the AP filed a lawsuit under the

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act (United States) of 1966 * F ...

for records around the FBI's policies for impersonation, and secured a victory in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017. In 2016, the Reporters Committee and

Time Inc. Time Inc. (also referred to as Time & Life, Inc. later on, after their two onetime flagship magazine publications) was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New ...

filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to unseal documents from the 1999 class action lawsuit settlement regarding the construction of

Trump Tower Trump Tower is a 58-story, mixed-use condominium skyscraper at 721–725 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, between East 56th and 57th Streets. The building contains the headquarters for the Trump Organiza ...

. In 2017, the case was returned to the district court, where the request was granted and documents detailing the terms of the more than $1 million settlement were released for the first time. In 2018, the Reporters Committee also filed a similar lawsuit over the FBI's impersonation of documentary filmmakers. The Reporters Committee also filed a federal open records lawsuit in 2018 against

U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilita ...

(CBP) and the

U.S. Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions involv ...

seeking access to records regarding the government's use of a summons authority in an attempt to force Twitter to reveal the users behind an anonymous account. A court order required CBP to release the records, which showed the summons had been issued improperly. The Reporters Committee won a four-year lawsuit in 2018 on behalf of journalist Ziva Branstetter and Tulsa World over access to public records related to Oklahoma's botched execution of Clayton Lockett. The court ordered thousands of pages of records to be released and ruled for the first time that public officials' delays in releasing the information violated the public's right of access and Oklahoma Public Records Act. In 2022, representing the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

in court, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press forced the partial release of the search warrant affidavit in the Senator

Richard Burr Richard Mauze Burr (born November 30, 1955) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator from North Carolina from 2005 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Burr was previously a member of the United Stat ...

insider trading investigation. In November 2024, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press helped the

Institute for Nonprofit News The Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) is a non-profit consortium of nonprofit journalism organizations. The organization promotes nonprofit investigative and public service journalism. INN facilitates collaborations between member organizatio ...

secure press credentials for all of its 475 member news organizations.

Resources

In addition to litigation and filing ''amicus curie'' briefs, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press supports

freedom of information in the United States Freedom of information in the United States relates to the public's ability to access government records, meetings, and other information. In the United States, freedom of information legislation exists at all levels of government: federal level, ...

through a number of free legal resources for those who gather and report the news. The Legal Hotline is available to journalists and media lawyers with legal questions. The Reporters Committee's Open Government Guide is a complete compendium of information on every state's open records and open meetings laws. The Open Courts Compendium explains court access issues and provides specific additional information for each state and federal circuit. The Reporter's Privilege Compendium is a collection of information on the rights of reporters not to be compelled to testify or disclose sources and information in court in each state and federal circuit. The Committee has also defended reporters in Court free of charge since its founding. In 2013, the Reporters Committee also launched iFOIA, a tool to file and track state and federal open records requests, and in 2016 the organization launched the FOIA Wiki, a website devoted to the federal

. The organization also helped found the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, and in 2018, published a report based on the tracker's data assessing the state of press freedom in the U.S. Other Reporters Committee resources include a digital interactive map documenting the policies governing public access to police body camera footage in more than 100 police departments, and a record of federal cases since 1844 involving leaks of government information to the news media. In 2020 and 2021, ProJourn was piloted in Washington and California before being expanded to Georgia, North Carolina, New York, Texas and Illinois. It helps connect pro-bono lawyers with journalists who need assistance with legal tasks like pre-publication review or records requests.

Notes

External links

* {{Authority control Freedom of information in the United States Organizations established in 1970 Freedom of expression organizations Freedom of the press in the United States 1970 establishments in the United States