DEADLINE: RCFP Local Legal Initiative

A growing number of local and regional news organizations and journalists lack the legal support they need to pursue enterprise and investigative stories in their communities — the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is committed to helping change that.

Thanks to the generous $10 million investment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Reporters Committee will expand to provide direct legal services to more local journalists through its new Local Legal Initiative.

The Reporters Committee is now accepting proposals from communities that could benefit from the Local Legal Initiative, which will, for the first time in RCFP's 50-year history, place a member of our legal team in up to five locations across the country to bolster local enterprise and investigative journalism.

These attorneys will help local journalists and news organizations defend their rights to gather and report the news, gain access to public records and court proceedings, and hold state and local governments accountable.

We're committed to collaborating with local and regional partners, which could include nonprofit and for-profit local and regional news organizations, state and local press associations, law firms, state and regional nonprofit organizations, universities and other educational institutions, and anyone helping local journalism thrive.

Proposals can be submitted at rcfp.org/local until October 31, 2019.