ABSTRACT
Issues that affect journalists have implications for public relations practitioners and, to a lesser extent, advertising professionals as well. These include issues related to conducting public business “in the sunshine” and the inevitable tensions involved in protecting the freedom of journalists to fully and accurately report on the criminal and civil law processes while ensuring that trial participants are afforded the Constitutionally guaranteed right to fair and unbiased judicial proceedings. Because the issues discussed most directly impact the news-gathering process, this chapter addresses these issues from the perspective of the journalist. Included is an overview of the controversial issue of whether journalists have a constitutional or statutory “privilege” to withhold information sought by law enforcement, legislative or judicial authorities.
