LAWYERS FOR REPORTERS

Lawyers for Reporters is a joint project of the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice and the Press Freedom Defense Fund of First Look Institute, providing pro bono legal assistance to local and mission-driven journalism organizations in the United States. Here are some examples of our recent and current efforts.

1. We have helped to establish many local publishers, including Advocate Magazine, the Asheville Watchdog, the Boulder Reporting Lab, the Copper Beacon, Kent News, My Neighborhood News Network, the Peekskill Herald, the Pelham Examiner, Proof Media, and uSpark Valley.

2. We have advised many local publishers on operational issues, including The Asheville Free Press, Austin Vida, Bay City News Foundation, The Bowie Sun, BK Reader, East Greenwich News, The Frontline Observer, Granite Memo, The Haitian Times, Lost Coast Outpost, New York Focus, The Optimist, Planet Detroit, Q Voice News, Range Media, Rio Grande Guardian, Santa Cruz Local, Saucon Source, Shasta Scout, and the Urbanist.   

3. We similarly have helped to establish or advised mission-driven national publishers, including Borderless, Bolts, Candide Group, the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism, Civil Eats, Homelands Productions, The Objective, OptOut News, the Prison Journalism Project, Public Health Watch, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and The Yappie. 

4. We have advised film and podcast producers, including After Spring, Area 2 Films, Bodies Podcast, and In the Dark. We also helped clients enter into strategic partnerships, including the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation, and the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism. 

5. We have advised journalism support organizations, including The Center for Independent Journalists, the Diversity Pledge Institute, the Institute for Nonprofit News,  the Listening Post Collective, the Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers, The Pivot Fund, and the Tiny News Collective, which also serve as referrals of their members for our assistance.

6. We are helping Venezuelan and Afghan journalists-in-exile to establish media outlets and continue their reporting. We also have advised a Venezuelan outlet in its defense against a defamation claim.