free press

Court upholds paper’s right to publish minor’s name

A California appellate court has ruled that newspapers have a constitutional right to publish the names of children who suffer abuse, as long as the name is newsworthy. According to the Sacramento Bee, the decision in favor of the Redding Record Searchlight upheld a ruling in Shasta County Superior Court. Full story

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Fox News reporter faces jail or betrayal of source

A reporter for Fox News says she won’t reveal her source or sources for a story that Aurora, Colo., mass-shooting suspect James Holmes had sent a notebook to a psychiatrist indicating intent to kill people. According to Courthouse News Service, Jana Winter has vowed to appeal the order to testify. Her attorney says Winter would go to jail rather than identify a confidential source, Fox News reported. Full story and links

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News gathering: Meaningful quotes on campaign trail slow to a trickle

As the Obama and Romney campaigns insist on reviewing quotes with attributions, they edit some, remove attribution from others and approve few for publication leaving the press with denuded content. The campaigns are afraid that some stray quote will cause unwanted notoriety. -db From The New York Times, July 15, 2012, by Jeremy W. Peters. Full story    

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Justice Department reaffirms right to quote federal attorneys in public meetings

After a Justice Department attorney tried to prevent a reporter from quoting her during a public meeting in Louisiana, the department issued a letter saying that there were  no regulations preventing the reporting and that any prohibition would be a violation of the First Amendment and state open government laws. -db From the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, July 13, 2012, by Emily Miller. Full story  

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New guide for obtaining non-profit status for journalism enterprises

The Citizen Media Law Project found that in applying for non-profit status, journalism companies did not always understand how the Internal Revenue Service made their decisions and as a result suffered delays and denial.  The “Interactive Guide to the Internal Revenue Service Decision-Making Process under Section 501(c)(3) for Journalism and Publishing Non-Profit Organizations” provides detailed information about IRS standards. -db From the Citizen Media Law Project, May 31, 2012. To read the guide  

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