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Journalists nationwide need your help. You’re certainly aware of the legal challenges continually undermining a free and unfettered press, a cornerstone of our democracy. And you’re also aware of technological and industry trends, which have given rise to nice publications and news organizations, freelance journalists and bloggers.
The Society of Professional Journalists, one of the nation’s largest and oldest journalism-advocacy organizations, wants to work with America’s most respected media lawyers to fight for what’s right.
The Society, with help from its longtime general legal counsel, Bruce Sanford of Baker & Hostetler in Washington, D.C., is building a national legal-advocacy network. We hope you’ll become a part of it.
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Building Bridges
Lawyers supporting SPJ’s Legal Advocacy Network will pay $400 (individuals), $500 (up to five faculty members from the same law school) or $800 (up to three attorneys from the same firm) a year — money that will work tremendous good for the legal and journalism communities. Among the projects this annual fee will help underwrite:
Online Information: SPJ will build an online treasure trove of legal resources that becomes the go-to destination for journalists nationwide.This section of SPJ.org will feature lawyers’ bios and contact information and their white papers, legal briefs and timely updates.
Collaboration: SPJ’s local chapters hold hundreds of programs each year.The network will help those groups connect with media lawyers willing to deliver instruction, and it will offset costs associated with producing those events. Lawyers are also eligible to participate in SPJ’s Speakers Bureau.
Lobbying & Advocacy: We seek to pool resources more effectively to aid lobbying and legal work focused squarely on the First Amendment and access to public information.
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This network aims to provide sound and timely legal information to journalists; to help journalists find the right legal help when they need it; to encourage greater discussion and collaboration between the journalism and media-law communities; and to create a dynamic and thoughtful team of journalists and lawyers who help steer the network’s financial resources to the most important causes and legal cases.
We’re pleased that several prominent media lawyers already have agreed to support this exciting and innovative initiative. (You can read all about them by following this link.)
Please join this team, which we hope will be supported by media lawyers working in practices and markets large and small. Your support will do tremendous good for the legal and journalism communities. An executive from the Society’s headquarters may call to follow up with you soon.
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Legal Advocacy Network
Information
Members
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Advocacy
Legal Advocacy
2007 Report
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Protecting Your Work
Legal Defense Fund
About the Fund
LDF in action
Federal Shield Law
LDF Auction
LDF Committee
Committee Reports
Legal Advocacy Network
Legal Defense Fund Committee
The LDF Committee oversees the Society's Legal Defense Fund, a unique account that can be tapped for providing journalists with legal or direct financial assistance. Application to the fund is approved by either a small committee or the national board, depending on the level of assistance sought. The committee works throughout the year raising funds for LDF.
Legal Defense Fund Committee Chair
Molly McDonough
Assistant Managing Editor/Online
ABA Journal
321 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60610
Work: (312) 988-5911
Fax: (312) 988-6014
E-mail
Bio (click to expand)
Molly McDonough is the Assistant Managing Editor/Online for the ABA Journal. She also has worked for American Lawyer Media and The National Law Journal as a writer and editor.
Molly previously reported for seven years at daily publications, including the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin; Gary (Ind.) Post-Tribune; Spartanburg (S.C.) Herald-Journal; and the Florence (S.C.) Morning News, where she covered courts, politics and the occasional NASCAR race in Darlington.
Molly is a past president of the Chicago Headline Club. She also was the founding president of the Chicago Headline Club Foundation, which raises money for journalism scholarship. She serves on the advisory board for Columbia College Chicago's journalism department.
Molly is a graduate of Valparaiso University, where she majored in psychology and communications. She lives in Oak Park, Ill., with her husband and two children.
Molly, a former at-large director on SPJ's national board, joined SPJ after an employer would not help her fight a subpoena. "I learned that SPJ's Legal Defense Fund is a valuable service to journalists," she said. "I have been a supporter of the LDF since and have worked to strengthen an organization that serves our nation's democracy by supporting a free, open and ethical press."
Legal Defense Fund Committee Members
Jesse Holland
Associated Press
Washington, D.C.
Julie Kay
National Law Journal
E-mail
Bio (click to expand)
Julie Kay is an award-winning South Florida journalist who covers the southeast United States for the National Law Journal. She previously worked for the Daily Business Review for seven years, where she authored a weekly column entitled “Justice Watch.” Kay is also the Florida consultant for C-SPAN and freelances for People Magazine and Closer Magazine.
Previously, Kay worked as a staff writer for the Miami Herald for five years, covering city and county government in Broward County, as well as for the Palm Beach Post. In the late 1980s, she worked for a business publication in New York in the late 1980s, covering the international airline industry.
Kay has won numerous awards for her reporting, including the Green Eyeshades, the Florida Press Club, the Florida Bar Media Awards and SPJ’s Sunshine State Awards.
Active in the South Florida chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists since 2000, Kay served as chapter president from 2002 to 2004. She currently serves on the Legal Defense Fund committee and the FOI committee of the national SPJ.
Mike Knaak
Assistant Managing editor
St. Cloud Times
Box 768
St. Cloud, MN 56302
320/255-8747
E-mail
Bio (click to expand)
Mike Knaak is the Assistant Managing Editor, St. Cloud Times. He is a former Minnesota Pro Chapter president, treasurer and board member. He serves as an adjunct faculty member at St. Cloud State University and has been a SPJ member for more than 25 years.
Ellen M. Mrja
SPJ campus adviser
Senior faculty, Department of Mass Communication
Minnesota State University
Nelson Hall 126
Mankato, MN 56001
507/389-1814
E-mail
Rebecca Neal
The Indianapolis Star
307 N. Pennsylvania St.
Indianapolis, IN 46206
317/444-2710
Bio (click to expand)
Rebecca Neal is an education reporter at The Indianapolis Star. She has worked at the Star since May 2005 covering events such as Hurricane Katrina from New Orleans and southern Louisiana. She graduated from the University of Kentucky in May 2005 with degrees in journalism and political science and a minor in history. She has been a member of SPJ since 2002 and serves on several national committees.
Neil Ralston
Western Kentucky University
1906 College Heights Blvd #11070
Bowling Green, KY 42101-1070
270/745-5841
Bio (click to expand)
Neil Ralston serves as a campus adviser at large for SPJ’s national board of directors. He is an assistant professor of journalism at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky. Before joining the faculty at Western Kentucky, Ralston was an associate professor of journalism at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches (NAK-uh-tish), La., where he taught and advised the student SPJ chapter since 1999. Other teaching appointments include Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo. Ralston began a career in journalism in 1978 and has worked as an editor, reporter and photographer at weekly and daily newspapers in Missouri, Illinois, Louisiana and Texas. His most recent full-time reporting job was in 1985-89 when he worked for the San Antonio (Texas) Light where he covered city hall, the police, federal law enforcement agencies and the federal courthouse.
Ralston has bachelor's degrees in communication and industrial technology from Northeast Missouri State University and a master's degree in journalism from The Ohio State University where he was a fellow in the Kiplinger Program of Public Affairs Reporting. He earned a doctorate from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2002. Additionally, Ralston was named SPJ's campus chapter adviser of the year for the 1998-99 school year. He has been a member of the SPJ board since 2003.
Margaret Graham Tebo, Esq.
Freelance
Chicago, IL
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