By SYDNEY MANNING
Contributing Writer
The New York State Bar Association has created a task force on how to deal with the issues that plague local journalism in the age of technology.
For various issues, the Bar Association wants to provide a legal perspective to journalism and bring together a regionally diverse coalition made up of thought leaders in media and media law.
“Local journalism simply means those entities which are not covering national politics and international affairs…as their principal role, but are in fact covering the Albany City Council, the Elmira Fire Department…anybody who is trying to look at the news that happens ground level in the state, and in their communities…,” said David McCraw, Deputy General Counsel for the New York Times.
The principal goal of the task force on Free Expression in the Digital Age is to examine the local community that news publishers operate in, along with the current financial environment, with the goal of preserving community news coverage. This is in order for smaller communities to stay informed, according to attorney Mike Grygiel, who is the co-chair of Greenberg Traurig LLP’s National Media and Entertainment Litigation Group.
The Rethinking Libel Law in a New Era of Journalism event will be held at the Bar Center on Elk Street Dec. 10 from 6 to 8 p.m. It will include a conversation with Margaret Sullivan, a media columnist at the Washington Post, and Joseph Finnerty from Finnerty, Osterreicher & Abdulla. Following this, a roundtable discussion will take place with various lawyers, and Rex Smith, the editor for the Times Union. The event is free for NYSBA members, and $100 for non-members.
The bar sees its role in local journalism as two-fold. The task force intends to explore how they can support local journalism, and address what laws need adjustment, to help the local model.
Smith has participated in multiple meetings as a voice for local journalism. According to Smith, at these meetings, participants have discussed different ways lawyers can assist local journalism. One way that lawyers might help small journalism enterprises, according to Smith, is by the use of law school clinics or pro bono assistance for Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests that newspapers submit. For smaller papers, the financial burden of hiring a lawyer to help with these requests can be a lot to bear.
The task force intends to hold public sessions as a way to get the public involved.
An event with a focus on the Freedom of Information Law in New York State was held at Syracuse University in October. Kristen O’Neill, the assistant director for the Committee on Open Government was a panelist at the event. Government representatives, media representatives, and people from different media organizations discussed how the law is implemented, and the frustrations that are had by both reporters and the public who try to access information, said O’Neill.
The government is responsible for showing how money is being spent, and being able to justify the decisions they are making, said O’Neill.
There are too many exemptions under the Freedom of Information law, which can cause documents, which the public has a right to see, to be withheld, said Smith. According to McCraw, FOIL is not easy for citizens to use, and can cause long delays for people waiting to receive documents. The public has a right to access government documents under this law, and if the documents are not received in a timely manner, it can cause harm to citizens who have the right to be informed.
The task force intends to conduct research through 2019 and into 2020, when they will release a report with their findings. The report will contain information from the research that different members of the task force conduct.
The task force is co-chaired by McCraw and Cynthia Arato, Partner at Shapiro Arato Bach LLP. Other committee members include Hon. Rolando Acosta, Presiding Justice, First Judicial Department; Mark Alcott, Of Counsel, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP; Jennifer Borg, Of Counsel, Pashman Stein Walder Hayden; Joseph Finnerty, Partner, DLA Piper Global Law Firm; Hon. Victoria Graffeo, Former Court of Appeals Judge; Mike Grygiel, Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig, LLP National Media and Entertainment Litigation Group; Caitlin Halligan, Partner, Selendy & Gay; Susan Harper, Managing Director, Bates Group LLC; Joel Kurtzberg, Partner, Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP; Lynn Beth Oberlander, EVP and General Counsel, Gizmodo Media Group; Hon. Karen Peters, Former Presiding Justice, 3rd Department: Hon. Susan Read, Former Court of Appeals Judge; Hon. Robert Smith, Former Court of Appeals Judge; and Kenneth Standard, Of Counsel, Epstein Becker Green.
“If you have towns and cities where journalistic organizations are not as strong and financially liable as they once were, the ultimate harm is stuck by citizens who don’t have access to information they otherwise would have,” said McCraw.
