A legal lifeline

With journalists facing increased legal threats around the world, a new partnership is looking to offer a legal lifeline to reporters in this country.

The Canadian Media Lawyers Association (CMLA), the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), and the University of King’s College have joined forces to launch Lawyers for Reporters Canada. This project will offer a range of pro-bono legal services to journalists and news organizations. 

Inspired by a similar program in the United States that launched in 2020, the project will bring together a network of lawyers volunteering their time to provide journalists with services like pre-publication review, legal advice on defamation, publication bans, and copyright issues, and guidance on everything ranging from how to respond to a notice of libel to how to start a corporation. A fellowship student will spend a year at King’s College in Halifax working as the program coordinator to help connect journalists with lawyers. 

It’s all part of an effort to bolster an effective democratic news media ecosystem in Canada. 

Danielle Stone, president of the CMLA, says she’s fielded numerous calls from journalists who lack the resources to defend themselves against legal action and has seen firsthand the need for an organization like Lawyers for Reporters Canada. 

“It was very clear to us that there needed to be some sort of resource for these journalists to help them do their jobs,” she says, especially with fewer organizations able to afford to have journalists in smaller regional areas. 

“We know that our local journalists are working with fewer and fewer resources at a time when journalism is crucial. The word fake news or disinformation is rampant right now, and without reliable, credible journalists on the ground in our regions, there's a tendency for that disinformation and fake news to garner more credibility.” 

^{Danielle Stone}

A free press is an integral part of a democracy, but Stone says a new level of “sophistication” among the subjects of news stories, aimed at shutting down public debate on various issues, is making it much harder for journalists to speak truth to power.  

For instance, if there's an increased likelihood of pushback from the subject of a story or the threat of litigation, there's a risk the journalist won’t be able to pursue it because they can’t afford to protect or defend themselves.

She says the question those involved are asking is, “What can we as lawyers do to help our journalists, to encourage public debate, and to recognize the importance of journalists in a democratic country like Canada?”

CAJ President Brent Jolly says over the last few years, the balance of power between government agencies, law enforcement, and private corporations has started to tip in favour of vested interests and against journalists interested in transparency and public-interest news gathering.

Supporting a free press and equipping journalists with the resources they need to report on stories in the public interest is essential to upholding accountability and watchdog journalism, particularly when many news organizations are strapped for cash. Further, some provinces don’t yet have anti-SLAPP legislation, which prevents meritless lawsuits intended to silence and intimidate critics and journalists on issues of public concern.  

“Journalists from across the country are increasingly in the crosshairs of agencies looking to restrict access, and I think there needs to be some pushback to that,” Jolly says. 

^{Brent Jolly}

He sees Lawyers for Reporters Canada as part of a broader toolkit to equip journalists with the knowledge and skills to do their work and support public-interest news gathering.

The project is in its early stages and is actively seeking lawyers in all areas to join its roster, not just media lawyers.   

“We're looking for tax lawyers, we're looking for human rights lawyers, we're looking for corporate lawyers who would be willing to step up and volunteer their time,” Stone says.

One lawyer who has already signed up is Ryder Gilliland, the former president of the CMLA and a specialist in media law. 

“It’s important because we've seen such devastation of news media, in particular local news media,” he says of the project. 

Offering legal advice on a pro bono basis will help offset the expensive costs of taking on legal action. Gilliland says that for small and independent organizations, defending against a defamation suit can be prohibitively expensive, especially for a freelance journalist.

“The reality is, a lot of news providers over the past decade have gone out of business, and that has left significant gaps in news throughout North America and throughout the world," he says.

“So anything to help professionals who are trying to report on what's happening in the communities we live in, I think it's important that we do so.” 

Jolly says a big piece of this initiative is helping smaller community and new digital upstart organizations put in place the pillars to help them succeed. That can include anything from helping develop their bylaws to assisting with policy and governance work.

“I still think the core democratic function of what journalism does is vital to the cosmopolitan nature of how we live in Canada. Lawyers for Reporters is certainly a great opportunity to ensure that those freedoms and liberties are protected,” he says. 

The project also aims to “be nimble and open” with its mandate to ensure that participants are “meeting the moment” Canadian journalists and news organizations find themselves in. 

“If I could rewind the clock five years, I don't think we would have been in a position where a news organization would be having to file a Charter suit against the RCMP for arresting a journalist for doing their job,” Jolly says, referring to the case of photojournalist Amber Bracken, who was arrested in 2021 while on assignment documenting tensions over the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline through unceded Wet’suwet’en territory.

“But this is kind of the world that we're in right now, and we're seeing it in the United States. I think it's about being prepared and having vigilance to defend the rights of journalists to ensure (the) freedoms accorded to them under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms are respected at all times.”

Given the current climate, Stone says the more lawyers who join the project, the better.   

“We're seeing what's happening in the United States and how media are being attacked on a daily basis in ways that we never imagined possible,” she says. 

“Instead of just watching in horror, I think it's the right time for lawyers to step up and do what they can to ensure that our journalists here in Canada don't suffer the same fate.”