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Articles by Jonathan Peters | Email the Author
Why you can’t get strippers’ names with public records requests
An odd case highlights the tension between open government and personal privacy
By Jonathan Peters Nov 6, 2014 at 02:50 PM
Nightclubs featuring nude dancing and erotic entertainment. Government licensing of the club dancers. Open government. A civil engineer who wants... More
The biggest threat to press rights may be a failure to understand them
Jeff Hermes of the Media Law Resource Center discusses the legal needs of a new generation of news organizations
By Jonathan Peters Oct 24, 2014 at 06:50 AM
It’s a cliché to say so, but we’re at a moment of transition for American journalism. The digital disruption that... More
Why this news nonprofit is crowdfunding a police shootings database
New Mexico Compass hopes to build a comprehensive resource for a big issue in Albuquerque
By Jonathan Peters Oct 10, 2014 at 11:00 AM
The New Mexico Compass is creating a searchable, interactive database of public records related to fatal police shootings in Albuquerque—and it’s asking... More
Will journalists get fined for photographing trees? (UPDATED)
The new US Forest Service rules explained
By Jonathan Peters Oct 1, 2014 at 01:03 PM
You’ve probably heard: The US Forest Service is savaging the First Amendment. It’s trying to codify a provisional rule, in... More
The Reporters Committee is about to start suing people to help journalists
Katie Townsend joins the organization as its first litigation director
By Jonathan Peters Sep 16, 2014 at 06:50 AM
Fair warning, all ye who interfere with newsgathering: The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is getting ready to... More
Why California’s smartphone ‘kill switch’ law should concern journalists
An antitheft measure creates the risk that the government could interfere with newsgathering
By Jonathan Peters Sep 4, 2014 at 06:50 AM
Imagine this. You’re a journalist covering a street protest, and the local police chief doesn’t like the photos you’re tweeting... More
Journalists in Ferguson: Know your rights
The First Amendment affords reporters broad but not perfect protection
By Jonathan Peters Aug 21, 2014 at 03:00 PM
Reporting on protests is no easy job--just ask the 16 journalists arrested so far while covering the events in Ferguson,... More
Can Ferguson police legally withhold the officer’s name? (UPDATED)
A review of Missouri’s case law and open records statute suggests courts might see it as a close call
By Jonathan Peters Aug 14, 2014 at 11:59 AM
Editor's note: Police in Ferguson on Friday, Aug. 15 released the name of the officer involved in the shooting. Our... More
After murders raise questions about parole supervision, LA Times sues for records
Paper invokes Jaycee Dugard precedent to argue for access to parole documents
By Jonathan Peters Aug 1, 2014 at 11:20 AM
Registered sex offenders Franc Cano, 27, and Steven Dean Gordon, 45, are accused of raping and murdering four women in... More
What’s the matter with South Carolina?
The trend in the state turns against open government, but this debate shouldn’t be over yet
By Jonathan Peters Jul 29, 2014 at 11:20 AM
When it comes to secrecy in South Carolina, less more is more. In the last 90 days, the state Supreme... More
Free Press takes its transparency dispute with the University of Michigan to court
An attempt to clarify state law—and establish a principle of openness for public universities
By Jonathan Peters Jul 18, 2014 at 11:02 AM
Investment commitments and funding of more than $120 million, a property purchase for $12.8 million, construction of a new biological... More
Allowing police to shoot someone without creating a record you can see
… And other bad ideas. Monitoring press freedom in the laboratories of democracy
By Jonathan Peters Jun 12, 2014 at 03:00 PM
In the 1932 case New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann, Justice Louis Brandeis dissented from the US Supreme Court’s decision... More
Survey: One in five journalists has had a credential request denied
Freelancers, photographers, activists face the highest barriers to access
By Jonathan Peters Jun 5, 2014 at 11:08 AM
Last year, a former student asked me how her news outlet, an online startup that relies on freelancers to cover... More
A coal magnate’s latest lawsuit was tossed—but Ohio can do more to defend free expression
Anti-SLAPP statute could offer greater protections to journalists and commentators
By Jonathan Peters May 28, 2014 at 12:32 PM
Michael Stark, a contributor to The Huffington Post. Ken Ward, a reporter for The Charleston Gazette. Margaret Newkirk, a former... More
The First Amendment argument against lethal-injection secrecy laws
It’s stronger than you might think
By Jonathan Peters May 12, 2014 at 11:04 AM
Update, 5/15: A media consortium consisting of The Associated Press, Guardian US, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Kansas City Star,... More
Why can’t SCOTUSblog get a credential?
It’s surprisingly hard to find out—and the journalists making the rules are as open as Chick-fil-A on Sunday
By Jonathan Peters Apr 29, 2014 at 03:25 PM
Around the country, credentialing organizations struggle every year to make decisions as journalists and news outlets apply for law-enforcement passes to cross... More
What law did the Toledo Blade break? The Army won’t say
But we’ve got a guess—and the paper’s lawsuit could present the first challenge to the statute
By Jonathan Peters Apr 16, 2014 at 03:22 PM
After military police detained two journalists last month outside a military manufacturing plant, an Army spokesman said the journalists had... More
Toledo Blade lawsuit alleges military guards detained journalists, deleted photos
Editor: “Everything that happened that day made it apparent we couldn’t sit back and take it.”
By Jonathan Peters Apr 7, 2014 at 11:37 AM
The Toledo Blade filed a federal lawsuit Friday against various government officials after military police reportedly detained two of the... More
Updating the Privacy Protection Act for the Digital Era
Law protecting journalists from searches didn’t anticipate cloud computing
By Jonathan Peters Jan 30, 2012 at 01:46 PM
Cloud computing is all the rage. Traditionally, people had to store, manage and process data on a personal computer or... More
Chuck Todd’s Obama book says more about the author than it does about the president - ‘The Stranger’ underscores a broader problem with the way we cover politics
The ‘unmitigated disaster’ of Obamacare in Mississippi - Sarah Varney and Jeffrey Hess report the heck out of a grim, ominous healthcare story
Why you can’t get strippers’ names with public records requests - An odd case highlights the tension between open government and personal privacy
Should journalism worry about content marketing? - Corporate brands now compete for audience with an aggressive storytelling strategy
News executives need to explain why video of an Ohio campaign interview disappeared - Footage of an interview with John Kasich and Ed FitzGerald was pulled, and Northeast Ohio Media Group won’t say why
Email blasts from CJR writers and editors
On the ground in Aleppo (Syria Deeply)
Francesca Borri on reporting from a razed city
How Businessweek is reinventing the mag cover (Gizmodo)
“Since the publication’s relaunch in 2010, the creative team has been busy reshaping a stodgy magazine you’d only touch in your dentist’s waiting room into a dynamic, entertaining, and visually driven must-read”
Taking stock of ESPN’s journalism (ESPN)
An ombudsman recaps his term
John Oliver video sweepstakes (The Awl)
“We may update this list next week to reflect Facebook shares gathered by The Awl as the result of this post, which is ultimately an elaborate excuse to embed a John Oliver video on our website”
Greg Marx discusses democracy and news with Tom Rosenstiel of the American Press Institute
CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
ACEsTooHigh.com – Reporting on the science, education, and policy surrounding childhood trauma
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.
