Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is welcoming three new attorneys to its Local Legal Initiative in the latest expansion of its pro bono legal support for local enterprise and investigative reporting. Paula Knudsen Burke has joined the Reporters Committee as the Local Legal Initiative attorney based in Pennsylvania and Ellen Osoinach has joined as the Local Legal Initiative attorney based in Oregon. In September, Rachael Johnson will begin working as the Local Legal Initiative attorney for Colorado.

Launched in 2019 and funded with generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Reporters Committee’s Local Legal Initiative provides targeted, pro bono legal support to help local journalists and news organizations defend their rights to gather and report the news, gain access to public records and court proceedings, and hold state and local government agencies and officials accountable.

“We’re thrilled to have Paula, Ellen and Rachael join the Reporters Committee, and to continue to expand the legal support we provide to local journalists,” said Bruce Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. “Their combined decades of experience working in and outside of newsrooms to improve transparency and government accountability will only strengthen our ability to provide legal resources and services to reporters pursuing critical local journalism in Pennsylvania, Oregon and Colorado.”

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