THE U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched Reporters Shield, a new membership programme that protects journalists around the world who report in the public interest.
The programme will shield them from defamation lawsuits and legal threats.
Reporters Shield is established as a U.S.-based nonprofit organisation run by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice
It is a first-of-its-kind global programme that defends investigative reporting around the world from legal threats meant to silence critical voices.
“USAID, which has a long history of fostering the growth of independent media across the world, plans to work with Congress to contribute up to $9 million in seed funding for this groundbreaking new program to support media outside the United States.
“Investigative journalists and civil society organizations reporting in the public interest are increasingly facing lawsuits that aim to harass and silence them by burdening them with the cost and time of a legal defense until they abandon their stories or go out of business entirely. Reporters Shield will help to reduce these risks through training and pre-publication review, as well as funding legal representation to fight lawsuits and other legal actions meant to intimidate and financially burden reporters. In order to keep the program sustainable, member organizations participating in Reporters Shield will pay reasonable annual fees that are based on a variation of factors, including location of the outlet and how many stories they produce a year,” said a statement on the programme.
The statement added that to be considered for membership in Reporters Shield, an organisation must be legally registered and focus primarily in news, public interest, and/or investigative reporting; publish reporting in print and/or online and have non-profit status or transparent ownership. Members must be independent from political, commercial, or other undue influence or interference and they must have editorial independence and adhere to professional editorial standards.
“Reporters Shield is accepting applications worldwide and will be reviewing them in a phased approach, with some regions receiving benefits in the coming months, and others added later this year and in 2024.
“Interested organizations can find more information and apply for membership by visiting reporters-shield.org.
“The development of Reporters Shield has been supported by the generous pro bono legal support of the law firms of Proskauer, Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer PC, and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP,” said the statement.
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