Media Advocacy
Media Advocacy
Penning a Historic Agreement to Protect Journalists' Rights
DWT represented five photojournalists who were assaulted and/or arrested while covering the 2020 racial justice protests. Our team achieved a landmark settlement with the New York Police Department that calls for improved police training and affirms journalists' First Amendment protections in the future. Our team devoted more than 4,500 hours to this case.
Penning a Historic Agreement to Protect Journalists' Rights
DWT represented five photojournalists who were assaulted and/or arrested while covering the 2020 racial justice protests. Our team achieved a landmark settlement with the New York Police Department that calls for improved police training and affirms journalists' First Amendment protections in the future. Our team devoted more than 4,500 hours to this case.
Team: Robert D. Balin; Alicia Calzada, deputy general counsel of the National Press Photographers Association; Abigail Everdell; Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel to the National Press Photographers Association; Wylie Stecklow, civil rights attorney; Alexandra M. Settelmayer; Kathleen E. Farley; Nimra H. Azmi; Megan Duffy; Megan C. Amaris; Jean M. Fundakowski; and Verónica Muriel Carrioni.
Team: Robert D. Balin; Alicia Calzada, deputy general counsel of the National Press Photographers Association; Abigail Everdell; Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel to the National Press Photographers Association; Wylie Stecklow, civil rights attorney; Alexandra M. Settelmayer; Kathleen E. Farley; Nimra H. Azmi; Megan Duffy; Megan C. Amaris; Jean M. Fundakowski; and Verónica Muriel Carrioni.
Promoting Independent, Investigative Reporting in Under-Served Communities
The media landscape is changing dramatically, with nonprofit and independent newsrooms playing an increasingly important role. Yet many of today’s journalists, documentary filmmakers, and podcasters, especially those in underserved communities, cannot afford to hire a lawyer.
In response to this critical need for legal services, DWT and Microsoft launched the Protecting Journalists Pro Bono Program (“ProJourn”) in 2020. Piloted initially in Washington state and California, ProJourn is now operated by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and provides free legal support in two areas that are vital to investigative journalism: public records access and pre-publication review.
ProJourn has been extolled and consistently recognized for filling a tremendous gap in access to legal services for journalists and newsrooms. Impressed with ProJourn’s efficacy, the esteemed John S. and James L. Knight Foundation awarded ProJourn with a $1.3 million grant to help the program advance its mission-critical work. The Reporters Committee manages the program, which the organization staffs with a fulltime director, legal manager, and coordinator.
Under the Reporters Committee’s leadership, ProJourn has expanded into Georgia, North Carolina, New York, and Texas, and added five prominent law firm participants: BakerHostetler, Covington & Burling LLP, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP and McGuireWoods LLP.
In 2023, attorneys working with ProJourn collectively recorded nearly 1,000 pro bono hours. This work included vetting 45 stories prior to publication, handling 25 public records matters, and leading 14 trainings, including several in Spanish.
One example of the high-impact reporting ProJourn makes possible is an expose published in February 2023 by the public interest newsroom Open Vallejo, which revealed that senior officials had intentionally destroyed crucial evidence connected to shootings involving local police. Attorneys from DWT and Microsoft provided essential legal support for the story. “ProJourn has been absolutely transformative to our work,” said Open Vallejo’s executive editor, Geoffrey King.
The success of ProJourn has been widely recognized:
The Financial Times honored DWT as Highly Commended (or first runner-up) in the category of Access to Justice and Civil Rights, at the 2023 FT Innovative Lawyers North America Awards.
Bloomberg Law named DWT and Microsoft to its list of 2023 Pro Bono Innovators.
Chambers and Partners recognized this initiative with its 2022 Pro Bono Innovation Award.
The success of ProJourn has been widely recognized:
The Financial Times honored DWT as Highly Commended (or first runner-up) in the category of Access to Justice and Civil Rights, at the 2023 FT Innovative Lawyers North America Awards.
Bloomberg Law named DWT and Microsoft to its list of 2023 Pro Bono Innovators.
Chambers and Partners recognized this initiative with its 2022 Pro Bono Innovation Award.
DWT ProJourn Volunteers: Thomas R. Burke, Sarah Burns, Lindsey B. Cherner, Eric M. Stahl, Leena Charlton, Rachel Strom, Sam F. Cate-Gumpert, Samuel A. Turner, Jesse Feitel, Bruce E. H. Johnson, Amanda Levine, Samantha Lachman, Jaime Drozd, Sarah K. Duran, Patricia J. Peña, Megan C. Amaris, Adrianna D. Gutierrez, Rachel McMillen Pratt, and Stacey Shelton.
DWT ProJourn Volunteers: Thomas R. Burke, Sarah Burns, Lindsey B. Cherner, Eric M. Stahl, Leena Charlton, Rachel Strom, Sam F. Cate-Gumpert, Samuel A. Turner, Jesse Feitel, Bruce E. H. Johnson, Amanda Levine, Samantha Lachman, Jaime Drozd, Sarah K. Duran, Patricia J. Peña, Megan C. Amaris, Adrianna D. Gutierrez, Rachel McMillen Pratt, and Stacey Shelton.
Uncovering a Deadly Regulatory Failure
DWT’s Sam F. Cate-Gumpert and Thomas R. Burke, representing the investigative newsroom ProPublica, sued the National Highway Safety and Traffic Administration for violation of the Freedom of Information Act. Their work compelled the release of thousands of documents, dating back to the 1960s, regarding underride accidents, in which a smaller vehicle crashes into the side or back of a tractor-trailer and slides underneath.
As ProPublica reported in its groundbreaking 2023 feature, published in collaboration with the PBS series “Frontline,” “the records reveal a remarkable and disturbing hidden history, a case study of government inaction in the face of an obvious threat to public wellbeing. Year after year, federal officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the country’s primary roadway safety agency, ignored credible scientific research and failed to take simple steps to limit the hazards of underride crashes.”
Uncovering a Deadly Regulatory Failure
DWT’s Sam F. Cate-Gumpert and Thomas R. Burke, representing the investigative newsroom ProPublica, sued the National Highway Safety and Traffic Administration for violation of the Freedom of Information Act. Their work compelled the release of thousands of documents, dating back to the 1960s, regarding underride accidents, in which a smaller vehicle crashes into the side or back of a tractor-trailer and slides underneath.
As ProPublica reported in its groundbreaking 2023 feature, published in collaboration with the PBS series “Frontline,” “the records reveal a remarkable and disturbing hidden history, a case study of government inaction in the face of an obvious threat to public wellbeing. Year after year, federal officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the country’s primary roadway safety agency, ignored credible scientific research and failed to take simple steps to limit the hazards of underride crashes.”
Corporate Partnerships
Free Speech Defense
Free Speech Defense
Corporate Partnerships
DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE LLP
Ability, integrity, and service to others – these are the three pillars on which Davis Wright Tremaine was built. As our founding partner once famously said, “…unless we are serving mankind to the top extent of our ability and putting our best talent into that service, what good is life?”
Learn More at DWT.COM/PRO-BONO
DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE LLP
Ability, integrity, and service to others – these are the three pillars on which Davis Wright Tremaine was built. As our founding partner once famously said, “…unless we are serving mankind to the top extent of our ability and putting our best talent into that service, what good is life?”
Learn More at DWT.COM/PRO-BONO
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