Funding Helps Lawyers for Reporters Expand Services for Clients Nationwide

As we close out a challenging year for independent journalism, the Vance Center’s Public Interest Reporting Program is pleased to announce receipt of two additional grants from current supporters and funding from two new donors. This will expand the capacity and components of our legal services for journalism clients across the United States, from local outlets to independent national newsrooms, through our Lawyers for Reporters (LFR) program, as well as our work with international journalism clients.

The Skyline Foundation has provided further funding for our team of lawyers to respond to an ever-broader range of client requests, including for advice related to noncitizen reporters and newsrooms serving immigrant communities.

This additional funding follows a three-year grant from the Foundation awarded earlier this year, significantly strengthening our long-term ability to pursue LFR’s vital work across the country.

This month, Lawyers for Reporters also received generous funding from Pilot House Philanthropy and the Joyce Foundation.

The Joyce Foundation’s support will allow us to increase our assistance to news publishers in the Great Lakes states, where the Foundation focuses its programming.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which has supported Lawyers for Reporters for two years, added funding for the Vance Center’s international and U.S. public interest reporting work. The program will be able to maintain our high-quality organizational, operational, and newsroom counseling while also responding to new and time-sensitive client requests.

New services and resources made possible through these and other recent grants include:

• Our new Compliance Assurance Program to help media organizations identify and address regulatory risks to operations
• Specialized legal and industry advice on media insurance and journalists’ rights covering protests
• and more.

MacArthur’s support extends to the program’s global work assisting nonprofit media outside of the United States, whether local, regional, or international. Over the last decade, the Vance Center’s Public Interest Reporting program has assisted dozens of high-impact organizations in Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, MENA, and Latin America. As investigative and independent journalism face growing threats around the world, the need for these legal services has only become more urgent.

This fall, Vance Center Executive Director Alex Papachristou participated in conferences and international journalism events in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Athens, Greece; and Amman, Jordan, where he connected with clients and other journalists and news organizations.

Read more about his recent travels here.

We are deeply grateful to the many foundations and funders who have recognized the growing threats to press freedom and access to information in the U.S. and around the world, and whose support has enabled the Vance Center to expand our capacity and services to address these threats and ensure our clients can continue safely and effectively informing their communities.