LEGAL ASSISTANCE
RESOURCE
Legal threats and lawsuits are increasingly popular as methods used to silenced and attack journalists. The following organisations provide resources, advice, support and legal assistance to freelance journalists and media organizations.
Media Defence
Emergency Defence
Media Defence (formerly MLDI) provides legal help to journalists, citizen journalists and independent media across the world. As part of their work they provide Emergency Defence to financially support cases where journalists face costly and complex litigation in an attempt to silence them.
Cyrus R Vance Center and Press Freedom Fund
Public Interest Reporting Program
The Vance Center's Good Governance program pursues openness and honesty in government, supporting civil society and independent journalism globally to hold officials and institutions accountable. Its areas of work include advising investigative journalism organizations on issues of avoiding and defending against defamation claims, establishing joint investigations through data sharing and co-publication, and setting codes of conduct to promote safety and equal opportunity. The program is actively helping journalists in Latin America, Africa, and Europe, representing international, national, and local outlets and individual journalists.
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Lawyers for Reporters provides pro bono legal assistance to local journalists and media organizations in the United States with the aim to support reporting in the public interest, particularly local journalism and social justice advocacy.
Free Press Unlimited
Reporters Respond
Reporters Respond is an emergency response fund that provides direct assistance, legal support, and safety advice to journalists and media outlets in distress, enabling them to resume their work as quickly as possible. This fund can support journalists and media organisations worldwide who are confronted with (online) harassment, intimidation, legal proceedings, or violence because of their work.
Reporters Shield
​Reporters Shield is an independent membership organization that defends investigative reporting around the world from legal threats meant to silence critical voices. Reporters Shield is for print and online media outlets as well as NGOs that report in the public interest. Reporters Shield collaborates with its members to deliver a three-pronged legal strategy: Prevent, Respond, Defend. The annual fee for membership is based on several factors, including the location of the outlet, the number of stories published per year, and how many legal claims they have already received.
Thomson Reuters Foundations
Legal Services for Independent Media
​​​Thomson Reuters Foundations offers a wide range of free legal services and resources to support independent media around the world. These include legal advice and guidance, legal health checks, customised support, and publicly available legal tools and resources for journalists and media outlets. This guide aims to assist journalists to minimise their legal liability by providing a checklist of factors to consider before publishing a story.
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Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP)
The RCFP provides pro bono legal representation, amicus curiae support, and other legal resources to protect First Amendment freedoms and the newsgathering rights of journalists. Their services for journalists include pre-publication legal services to freelance journalists and documentary filmmakers, a legal hotline and a range of legal resources:
Freelance Investigative Reporters and Editors (FIRE)
New Legal Service
FIRE helps freelance investigative journalists to produce investigations in the public interest, primarily by providing grants and editorial services. In 2021 FIRE launched contract-related legal assistance for investigative journalists working on stories associated with English-language U.S. outlets (although freelancers may reside outside of the U.S.). The service arranges access to two experienced media attorneys to provide pro bono legal counsel on a range of contractual issues, including insurance, liability, and indemnification.
Further details and application via their website.
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