Club President Jonna Buck welcomed everyone to our online meeting.
Our speaker was KatieBeth Gardner, counsel for The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
You can read more about the program and see some screen shots by clicking on the gold Recap headline above.
The meeting was accidentally not recorded but other club meetings are posted on the club YouTube channel at this link: Sooner Club Secretary
Meeting Program
Oklahoma-based attorney KatieBeth Gardner shared the following key messages in her presentation at the meeting.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is the leading pro bono legal services organization in the country for journalists. In 2020, the Reporters Committee launched the Local Legal Initiative to bring legal support, resources, and training to local journalists and news organizations. Oklahoma was selected as a launch site for this exciting initiative which led KatieBeth to join the organization.
The organization and initiative is needed because journalists often face barriers during the course of their reporting.
For example, journalists often submit requests under federal and state freedom of information laws that are either denied or delayed by government agencies. This prevents journalists from being able to report on issues of public concern.
The committee worked with the Tulsa World in 2014 to help obtain records under Oklahoma's freedom of information laws related to the botched execution of Clayton Lockett.
The Reporters Committee also publishes a number of authoritative guides and resources on the First Amendment and frequently submits "friend of the court" briefs in cases where the news media brings an important perspective.
The Reporters Committee Legal Defense and FOIA Hotline is available to journalists and media lawyers during normal business hours using the form at this link or outside of normal business hours or in case of an emergency by calling 1-800-336-4243.The committee's Facebook page and profile is available at this link: https://www.facebook.com/ReportersCommittee/.
Thank you KatieBeth for your presentation and all you, the Initiative and the Committee are doing to preserve our democracy.