A WORD FROM OUR FOUNDING BOARD CHAIR, DREW SULLIVAN
Three years ago, we launched Reporters Shield with a singular, sobering realization.
While the industry has long sounded the alarm when journalists face physical violence, a “slow-motion” threat has become equally devastating — the destruction of newsrooms through lawfare.
In recent years, we have seen a surge in Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). Cases not designed to be won; they are designed to harass, drain resources, distract and discourage journalists.
Anti-SLAPP legislation designed to stop this problem is also often ineffective.
As Reporters Shield’s founders, we recognised that nonprofit investigative reporting organizations, and many other civil society organizations, are not insured and in many cases cannot be insured. Deemed “too high-risk” for commercial coverage or unable to access the right insurance cover in different places around the world.
So we built Reporters Shield as a membership-based organization.
Members receive paid legal defense regardless of where they are sued. It is the best solution for at-risk international organizations, and a vital resource for underinsured media outlets struggling as the commercial sector closes its doors to those considered “too dangerous”.
Our goal is to take the threat of the court system off the table permanently, ensuring that corrupt officials and billionaires can no longer use legal fees as a muzzle.
In the first six months of this year, we have seen our membership grow to include some of the world’s most courageous newsrooms, NGOs, and independent publishers – a global network with the financial muscle and legal expertise to fight back.
We have moved beyond just reacting to lawsuits; we are now deterring them.
Providing robust pre-publication reviews and aggressive defense strategies, we give journalists the confidence to pursue the stories that matter most.
If media outlets have the funds to win lawsuits without going bankrupt or avoid them entirely by seeking counsel right out the gate, they can be bolder. We lose whenever the media is sued, but we lose a lot more when the story doesn’t run in the first place, out of fear.
We cannot be complacent. Reporters Shield will continue to evolve. We are committed to keeping our membership accessible, our legal network elite, and our resolve unshakable.
Thank you for standing with us.
Co-director and the publisher, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.