Lawyers for Reporters Hosts Webinar Guiding Nonprofit Newsrooms on Covering U.S. Elections
Attorneys from the Vance Center’s Public Interest Reporting Program organized a virtual event for public interest newsrooms on strategies to ensure their reporting abides with federal regulations prohibiting political campaign intervention.
On June 9, the Vance Center’s Lawyers for Reporters initiative organized a virtual event “Covering Elections as a Nonprofit: Understanding Prohibitions on Political Activity,” for more than 50 journalists and publishers representing local, independent, and mission-driven news organizations across the United States.
Lawyers for Reporters Managing Attorney Kay Murray moderated the event, which highlighted guidance for 501(c)(3) nonprofit news organizations to ensure they abide by federal law prohibitions on partisan political activity when reporting on elections. The discussion featured insights from Abby Levine, Policy Counsel and Assistant General Counsel at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; David Bralow, General Counsel of The Intercept; and Lawyers for Reporters Staff Attorney Christina Jones.
The speakers began by outlining activities that are prohibited under political campaign intervention regulations in the United States, and the facts and circumstances that the IRS considers when it assesses compliance with federal campaign intervention laws. They highlighted important factors that journalists should keep in mind, such as the timing, context, and framing of their coverage.
The speakers emphasized the need to be aware of tone in news publications, content of social media posts, and even the use of certain links in stories, all of which can cross the line from issue-driven reporting into what the IRS may view as implicit campaign intervention.
They then offered practical guidance on permitted activities, including ways that non-profits can legally engage in issue advocacy, nonpartisan voter education, candidate forums and speaking engagements. As the panelists walked participants through real-world hypotheticals, they warned of gray areas in the IRS rules, such as instances when voter guides may be perceived as partisan, podcast interviews with candidates that involve one-sided issue advocacy, and other editorial judgments made close to election days.
During the discussion and subsequent Q&A session, Murray responded to questions from participants about editorial decisions, including ways to maintain balance and neutrality when covering elections and candidates, and how nonprofits can navigate the evolving U.S. legal landscape given proposed legislation and recent court decisions affecting non-profit nonpartisanship.
The Lawyers for Reporters team plans to continue this training series for public interest news organizations in the fall. Future sessions will address issues around newsgathering and frontline reporting, as well as copyright, defamation, and related legal risks.