Lawyer to help state news organizations

Many Oklahoma news organizations will soon have access to free legal help.

Oklahoma was one of five states selected for the Local Legal Initiative, a program run through the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press that uses a $10 million grant to hire an attorney in each of the chosen states.

The attorneys will work pro bono to help news outlets obtain public records, access public meetings, defend against lawsuit sand review content prepublication to assess legal exposure.

Nearly 400 newspapers, TV stations and radio groups will have access to these services, as well as the Native American Journalists Association and online investigative outlets Oklahoma Watch and The Frontier.

“The Local Legal Initiative is revolutionary because it will help restore the rights of citizens who want access to records kept by their government and provide the financial backing to challenge bureaucracy and violations of Oklahoma's transparency laws and principles ,” said Mark Thomas, executive vice president of the Oklahoma Press Association, in a news release.

Oklahoma was chosen because, as news organizations struggle financially, it has become increasingly difficult to wage costly “legal battles for access to government information,” according to the news release.

Because of this, public officials have become “increasingly res istant” to providing open records and holding open meetings.

The state is also home to 39 federally recognized tribes, and the lawyer would help reporters covering tribal governments hold those institutions accountable.

“We believe the opportunity will encourage both mainstream and tribal media to attain the highest standards of professionalism and improve coverage of Indigenous communities,” said NAJA President Tristan Ahtone in the release.

Other states chosen include Colorado, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.