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Q&A Session with Reporters Shield

Legal pressure and intimidation of journalists has always existed, but the last few years have seen a worrying rise of bullying, harassment, and attacks in the courts to silence the press. In many countries, the law is easily weaponized against watchdog reporting, and it has become increasingly common that those investigating politics, crime, or corruption will be targeted with a lawsuit. The question is often not if you will be sued, but when.

Defending such cases is incredibly expensive and the devastating impact they can have on an organization’s finances often represent an existential threat. As legal attacks on press freedom and democracy become more common and sophisticated, it has become critical for news organizations to come up with a plan to respond.

In this webinar, GIJN is hosting a conversation with Clothilde Redfern and Jodi Blankenship, executive director and project manager of Reporters Shield, a legal support program and defense fund for investigative sites and newsrooms.Drew Sullivan, co-founder and publisher at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), will share some of the cases his newsroom has faced, that lead to the launch of the program. This Q&A session is specially designed for organizations, since Reporters Shield can only offer its services to journalism outlets instead of individual reporters, for due diligence and legal reasons.

Reporters Shield is a US-based nonprofit — developed by investigative journalists at the OCCRP and lawyers at the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice — that defends investigative reporting around the world from legal threats. The program registers organizations or outlets, for a fee, to become members, through which they then have access to legal consultation and representation. (The eligibility criteria for organizations — that they have to be engaged in public interest or investigative reporting in print or online media — is outlined here.) Reporters Shield offers up to US$500,000 in aid that is used to provide legal services to their members. Learn more about the program.

The webinar is moderated by Rowan Philp, GIJN’s Senior Reporter.
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The Global Investigative Journalism Network is an international association of journalism organizations that support the training and sharing of information among investigative and data journalists—with special attention to those from repressive regimes and marginalized communities.

Our key activities include:

Providing resources and networking services to investigative journalists worldwide;
Publishing in multiple languages and on multiple platforms the latest tools, techniques and opportunities for those in the field;
Helping organize and promote regional and international training conferences and workshops;
Assisting in the formation and sustainability of journalism organizations involved in investigative reporting and data journalism around the world;
Supporting and promoting best practices in investigative and data journalism;
Supporting and promoting efforts to ensure free access to public documents and data worldwide.

Find more information on our website: https://gijn.org

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Material from GIJN’s website is generally available for republication under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. Images usually are published under a different license, so we advise you to use alternatives or contact us regarding permission. Here are our full terms for republication. You must credit the author, link to the original story, and name GIJN as the first publisher. For any queries or to send us a courtesy republication note, write to hello@gijn.org.

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