The CalAware Guide to Journalism Law in California

Book excerpt: This comprehensive guide to all law relevant to journalism in California covers both the rights of access to people, places and information afforded reporters and photojournalists as well as the protection for news accounts, editorial opinions and art, and post-publication encounters with legal challenges. Issues addressed in the guide include access to government meetings and records, court proceedings and judicial records at both the local and federal levels; cameras and recording equipment in the courtroom; information on hospital patients under HIPAA; avoiding liability for trespass, intrusion, secret eavesdropping and recording; California's unique paparazzi laws; avoiding libel, slander and invasion of privacy; and protection from subpoenas and pretrial discovery under California and federal law. A chapter on the rights of high school and college journalists covers California laws providing freedom from censorship and punitive discipline, as well as access to crime records at colleges and universities. The pocket-sized guide presents information in a highly accessible question and answer format plus "News Notes" sidebars on obstacles or opportunities posed by the law. Also provided are detachable forms and statements including a California Public Records Act request; a template for a written demand for correction of a violation of the open meeting law; a caution against an impending unlawful police search for constitutionally protected material; and a statement to the court protesting exclusion from a legal proceeding. The guide is written by Terry Francke, general counsel for the nonprofit public interest organization Californians Aware, with more than 30 years' experience helping journalists, citizen watchdogs, attorneys and even government officials and employees understand the open government laws. Francke is also author of the other CalAware Guides on Public Records and Private Information in California and Open Meetings in California.