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The Society's Legal Defense Fund is a unique
account that can be tapped for providing journalists with legal or direct financial
assistance. Application to the fund is approved by either a small committee
or the national board, depending on the level of assistance sought. The committee
works throughout the year raising funds for LDF.
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“SPJ and the Legal Defense Fund have provided precisely the support necessary to defend my wrongful arrest in Chicago. Without this financial backing there would be little chance of independent journalists like me to acquire competent representation to take on the resources available to local and state agencies that challenge our right to gather news. Journalists face extraordinary challenges while documenting news events. Having access to the SPJ network of professionals and the LDF is huge.”
— Mike Anzaldi,
freelance photographer
Crime scene photographer finds himself on cops’ bad side [Chicago Tribune]
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Purpose of the Fund
The Society of Professional Journalists collects and distributes
contributions for aiding journalists in defending the freedom of speech and
press guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
The primary role of the Legal Defense Fund is to initiate and
support litigation that enforces public access to government records and proceedings,
which can be the most expensive way to defend the First Amendment. The fund
can also be a source of support for FOI hotlines, coalitions and newsletters,
as well as for legislative lobbying activities aimed at enforcing public access
to government records and proceedings.
All requests for money from the Legal Defense Fund will be weighed
with special consideration for activities that will effect the most far-reaching
and positive outcomes.
How to Request an LDF Grant
Download and complete a LDF application
(PDF), stating specifically the purpose for which you are seeking assistance.
Be sure to apply any documentation you have to support your request.
If your request is an emergency, call national headquarters at
317/927-8000 or call the chairs of either of the Society’s
Legal Defense Fund or the Freedom of Information committees. Be prepared to fax some documentation.
It is helpful for you to first enlist the support of a local SPJ
chapter president or regional director. National headquarters can supply names
and phones numbers.
Note: A six-person review committee can make decisions on
financial requests of up to $1,000 at any time during the year. The Society’s
board of directors must review any requests for more than $1,000. The group
meets each year in April and October.
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Legal Defense Fund Committee
The LDF Committee oversees the Society's Legal Defense Fund, a unique account that can be tapped for providing journalists with legal or direct financial assistance. Application to the fund is approved by either a small committee or the national board, depending on the level of assistance sought. The committee works throughout the year raising funds for LDF.
LDF Shield: Latest Posts
• Kansas reporter could be forced to reveal source
• Data go up, data come down
• Delaware considering below-average 10-day deadline on records responses
• Anecdotes wanted: Ever have a PIO-guarded interview?
• Should names on petitions be public?
Legal Defense Fund Committee Chair
Clint Brewer
615/668-4535
E-mail
Bio (click to expand)
Clint Brewer is an award winning investigative journalist and an accomplished media executive.
He works as the Director for Government Accountability for the non-profit Tennessee Center for Policy Research, a think tank focused on free markets and combating waste and corruption in government.
Brewer previously worked as executive editor of The City Paper in Nashville and the online Nashville Post website, managing a staff of approximately 30 staffers and freelancers to put out highly influential and well-read urban news products.
During his tenure at the newspaper, Brewer oversaw a total overhaul of the newspaper’s website as well as the development of a larger network of blog sites and other Internet products. The result was exponential growth in the online readership of the company’s news sites.
Brewer also ushered in a 53 percent increase in the readership of The City Paper during his first year of managing the daily newspaper.
Prior to his tenure with The City Paper, Brewer worked as a managing editor for Sandusky Newspaper’s hub of properties in Nashville’s suburbs. Brewer oversaw the editorial operations of the daily Lebanon Democrat newspaper as well as three weekly newspapers.
Before running news operations for Sandusky in Middle Tennessee, Brewer was owner and operator of the weekly Mt. Juliet News.
Brewer has won numerous investigative reporting awards at the state and national level during his career, and is regarded as one of Tennessee’s most authoritative and respected political reporters.
In addition, Brewer has served as national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, the largest association of media professionals in the country. He has also served as a member of the Tennessee Press Association board of directors.
Legal Defense Fund Committee Members
Voting Members:
David Cuillier
Assistant Professor
Department of Journalism
University of Arizona
Marshall Building, Room 323
Tucson, AZ 85721-0158
Work: 520/626-9694
Fax: 520/621-7557
E-mail
Bio (click to expand)
David Cuillier, a former newspaper reporter and editor, is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism at the University of Arizona. He researches public attitudes toward freedom of information and is one of the SPJ newsroom trainers for acquiring government documents.
Hagit Limor
Investigative Reporter
WCPO-TV
1720 Gilbert Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45202
513/852-4012
E-mail
Bio (click to expand)
Hagit Limor’s other experience with SPJ includes stints as Greater Cincinnati Pro Chapter President and membership chairman; National Membership Committee; National Finance Committee Chair; and board member of the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation.
Outside of SPJ, she serves as WCPO-TV's Emmy and national award-winning investigative reporter, but her journey began half a world away. She was born in Israel and moved to the United States when she was eight years old. At WCPO, Hagit is regarded as a "do-it-all" journalist. She's served as an anchor, general assignment reporter, and now helms the award-winning I-Team. Her abilities as a writer and reporter have garnered Hagit dozens of national, state and local awards.
She and videographer Anthony Mirones won First Place in the 2008 National Headliner Awards for "Resurrection", a four-year investigation into pollution from the local international airport. Hagit and Anthony also won a 2008 Emmy Award for "Solid Gold Weddings", a consumer investigation into a wedding video company that brides across the nation claimed did not deliver the videos it promised. Hagit and producer/videographer Phil Drechsler won second place in the 2008 National Association of Health Care Journalists competition, for "Care-less Denials", about lack of access to mental health care by a national insurance company.
Hagit has previously won three separate national Sigma Delta Chi Awards from SPJ, was a national finalist with the Investigative Reporters and Editors Association, and has won other national awards from the Association of Health Care Journalists, the Society of Environmental Journalists and the National Headliner Awards.
She also has won nine Emmy Awards while at WCPO, more than a dozen state Associated Press and SPJ awards, and local SPJ awards.
Hagit received bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University.
At home, she shares life with her husband Jeff, her son Jake, two dogs and two cats.
Neil Ralston
Western Kentucky University
1906 College Heights Blvd #11070
Bowling Green, KY 42101-1070
270/745-5841
E-mail
Bio (click to expand)
Neil Ralston serves as a campus adviser at large for SPJ’s national board of directors. He is an assistant professor of journalism at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky. Before joining the faculty at Western Kentucky, Ralston was an associate professor of journalism at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches (NAK-uh-tish), La., where he taught and advised the student SPJ chapter since 1999. Other teaching appointments include Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo. Ralston began a career in journalism in 1978 and has worked as an editor, reporter and photographer at weekly and daily newspapers in Missouri, Illinois, Louisiana and Texas. His most recent full-time reporting job was in 1985-89 when he worked for the San Antonio (Texas) Light where he covered city hall, the police, federal law enforcement agencies and the federal courthouse.
Ralston has bachelor's degrees in communication and industrial technology from Northeast Missouri State University and a master's degree in journalism from The Ohio State University where he was a fellow in the Kiplinger Program of Public Affairs Reporting. He earned a doctorate from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2002. Additionally, Ralston was named SPJ's campus chapter adviser of the year for the 1998-99 school year. He has been a member of the SPJ board since 2003.
Kevin Z. Smith
Assistant Professor of Journalism
Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community and Technical College
301 Jaynes Hall
1201 Locust Ave.
Fairmont, WV 26554
304/367-4864
E-mail
Bio (click to expand)
Kevin Z. Smith is an assistant professor of journalism at Fairmont State University. He is a career journalist having worked in newsrooms as a reporter, photographer and editor for more than 20 years.
He earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from West Virginia University and a master's degree in mass communications from Miami University (Ohio).
He served as an adjunct instructor at Fairmont State and West Virginia University before being named assistant professor of journalism and director of student publications at FSU in 2003. He also was a visiting instructor of journalism at Miami University from 1995-2000.
Smith has worked at various daily papers in West Virginia including publications in Fairmont where he was managing editor, Morgantown as city editor, Parkersburgas a business writer and Grafton as sports editor. He also worked as a reporter for Bloomberg Financial News in Washington, D.C.
Smith was inducted into SPJ as a West Virginia University student in 1978. He joined the ethics committee in 1988 and served as chair of the committee from 1994-96, the two years when the ethics code was rewritten. He is a contributor to two of the SPJ ethics books, "Doing Ethics in Journalism" and he has written for trade publications and scholarly journals on ethical issues. He also served as the society's Sunshine Chair, an advocate for open meetings and records laws in West Virginia, for five years. He served on the national board in 1997 as a campus adviser-at-large. He also has worked on the convention's resolution and nominations committees.
Smith is a columnist for the Times West Virginian in Fairmont, is a freelance writer for northern West Virginia's Corridor magazine and works as an Associated Press political elections reporter. He is a native of Fairmont with two sons, Ben and Nick.
Non-voting members:
Rebecca Baker
E-mail
Jodi Cleesattle
E-mail
Carol Cole Frowe
E-mail
Allison Barlow Hess
E-mail
Christine McManus
E-mail
Ellen Mrja
E-mail
Tom Ramstack
E-mail
Neil Reisner
E-mail
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