Whether a story is published or not, your conduct during the reporting process can result in severe liability. Here are some guidelines to protect yourself from legal risks that arise in the course of gathering news information.
Be careful what you promise. Don’t promise sources or subjects more than you are willing or able to deliver. Try to keep your options as open as possible rather than limiting what you can do in your reporting and what you may or may not publish.
Limit confidentiality agreements. Be particularly careful about confidentiality agreements and try to limit the scope of those agreements to what you may or may not publish as opposed to unconditional promises to keep sources confidential.
Don’t misrepresent yourself. Don’t misrepresent your journalistic intentions or your identity. Be honest with sources and subjects.
Behave reasonably. Make sure your behavior toward others isn’t unreasonable or over the line given the importance of the story you are pursuing.
Ask for help. Be completely forthright with your editors and trained media lawyers. When in doubt, don’t hesitate to inform them of questions or potential problems and seek their advice in advance of reporting.
Taken from Newsgathering Law & Liability: A Guide for Reporting, a self-directed course by David Ardia and Geanne Belton at Poynter NewsU.
Have you missed a Coffee Break Course? Here’s our complete lineup.