Jonathan Peters
Nieman Reports
Athens, GA, United States
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Past articles by Jonathan:
Sued for Doing Journalism
How reporters are countering public officials who use lawsuits to suppress public records requests → Read More
The legal landscape for frontline student journalists
Student journalists have been profiles in honest and courageous reporting since the pandemic started. They have exposed campus outbreaks and questioned reopening plans. They have documented social-distancing violations at fraternity and sorority houses. They have tracked and explained fast-breaking changes to instructional modes and commencement events. They have demanded transparency from… → Read More
What the lawyers who sue the press think of the press, and media law
“Have a score to settle with the press? Charles Harder, the media lawyer who ground Gawker.com to dust, is your man.” That was the subhead of a GQ profile of Harder published in 2016, after he won a $140 million jury verdict for Hulk Hogan against Gawker (later settled for $31 million). The profile went […] → Read More
Here’s how to stop thin-skinned bullies suing the media constantly
It’s boom time for bullshit claims against media organizations. Congressman Devin Nunes, the California Republican, is suing McClatchy for libel and demanding $150 million, in what his complaint alleges is “a case about character assassination and a public company that weaponized its powerful pen and used it as a terrible sword.” Joe Arpaio, the demagogic […] → Read More
Case against Bloomberg a rare one under ‘hot news’ doctrine
This month began with a rare sighting: a claim for misappropriation under the “hot news” doctrine. It appeared in a lawsuit filed in a DC federal court by Capitol Forum, a subscription service that produces policy reports, against Bloomberg. According to the complaint, Capitol Forum’s reports provide time-sensitive analysis to subscribers about various policy matters, […] → Read More
Encryption efforts in Colorado challenge crime reporters, transparency
Colorado journalists on the crime beat are increasingly in the dark. More than two-dozen law enforcement agencies statewide have encrypted all of their radio communications, not just those related to surveillance or a special or sensitive operation. That means journalists and others can’t listen in using a scanner or smartphone app to learn about routine […] → Read More
How the law protects hate speech on social media
Robert Bowers, the man accused of killing 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue, apparently used his account on Gab, a social-media platform favored by white supremacists and neo-Nazis, to post in the months before the attack about his hatred of Jews. When that part of the story broke, Gab’s tech infrastructure began to collapse. PayPal […] → Read More
Libel law is having a moment
Joe Arpaio, the firebrand former Arizona sheriff, announced last week he is suing The New York Times for $147.5 million. But what are his chances of prevailing? He claims that the paper and editorial writer Michelle Cottle libeled him and cast him in a false light. At issue is the August 29 opinion piece “Well, […] → Read More
Lawsuits over journalist Twitter accounts may become more common
The claims are serious. Misappropriation under the Defend Trade Secrets Act and the Virginia Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Stored Communications Act, and the Virginia Computer Crimes Act. Conversion and breach of fiduciary duty. All because a sports reporter took his Twitter account with him when he […] → Read More
Homeland Security photography alert is ‘a seed of fear’
Photojournalists, beware: The US Department of Homeland Security has its eyes on you. The agency tweeted Monday: Know the signs! Did you know photography and surveillance could be a sign of terrorism-related suspicious activity? If you notice this, be sure to report it to local authorities. #seesay #protectyoureveryday pic.twitter.com/Xu9L6p5FcR — Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 9, […] → Read More
For journalists covering prisons, the First Amendment is little help
“Each prison is a fiefdom, and the warden is at the top of the feudal system.” That’s how Gary Fields, who covered criminal justice for The Wall Street Journal, put it in 2012, discussing the government policies and practices that make it difficult for journalists to report on prisons, jails, and other detention centers. Press […] → Read More
In dossier lawsuit, BuzzFeed’s ‘fair-report’ defense survives
BUZZFEED STRENGTHENED ITS LEGAL POSITION this week against Russian entrepreneur Aleksej Gubarev, who is suing the website for publishing the infamous Trump dossier. A federal judge ruled Monday that New York’s fair-report privilege, invoked by BuzzFeed as a defense, remains available to the site. The decision appears to be only the second of its kind in […] → Read More
Q&A: Lawyer behind Hannity revelation at Cohen hearing speaks
Rob Balin, a media lawyer at Davis Wright Tremaine, is the reason we know that Sean Hannity was Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s secret client. Balin attended the Monday hearing in Southern District Court in Manhattan, following the raid of Cohen’s offices, to represent the interests of several news organizations, including ABC, The New York Times, […] → Read More
The Oregonian has a lien on a former public official’s house. How strange is that?
“I HONESTLY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS,” says Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida. “I have not read about this occurring elsewhere,” says Daniel Bevarly, executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. “First time I’ve seen something like this,” says Robert Corn-Revere, a […] → Read More
Seth Rich lawsuit against Fox News stands on unusual legal ground
The parents of Seth Rich, the Democratic National Committee staffer murdered in 2016, filed a lawsuit last week against Fox News. Their complaint alleges that the network conspired with Fox reporter Malia Zimmerman and guest commentator Ed Butowsky, also named as defendants, to push a “sham story” about Rich that ultimately traumatized his parents. Jill […] → Read More
The time is right for the Journalist Protection Act. But we need a federal shield law.
CALLING OUT PRESIDENT TRUMP for “creata climate of extreme hostility to the press,” US Representative Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, introduced a bill this week to make it a federal crime to assault a journalist. Titled the “Journalist Protection Act,” the bill would amend the chapter of the federal code that includes, among other […] → Read More
What some reporters get wrong about the First Amendment
THE FIRST AMENDMENT is having a moment. It earned a C+ on a recent report card from the Newseum Institute. It’s the beating heart behind The Post, about the publication of the Pentagon Papers. And it’s the through-line that connects countless controversies around the country: Trump’s cease-and-desist letter to Michael Wolff to try to halt the […] → Read More
Trump Twitter spreadsheet tracks “a perpetual campaign against the press”
SINCE DECLARING HIS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY in 2015, Donald Trump has posted nearly 1,000 tweets critical of the press. To be precise, as of this writing, it’s 990 tweets since June 16, 2015. For perspective, if you’re feeling lighthearted: That’s more than the number of goals Wayne Gretzky scored in his NHL career, more than the number […] → Read More
New guide helps whistleblowers and journalists work together
IF SUNLIGHT TRULY IS “the best of disinfectants,” as Justice Louis D. Brandeis wrote about the importance of transparency, then we need a Costco pallet of sunlight to scrub every surface of the Trump administration. Trump is being sued for violating the emoluments clause. His first national security adviser pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. […] → Read More
The newspaper ad that changed everything
In March 1960, the New York Times published a paid ad from a group supporting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., setting off a chain of events that would change the role of the press in America and help shape our public discourse for decades, writes Jonathan Peters → Read More