Investigative journalism cannot be published without a media lawyer assessing the story for defamation, contempt of court or other legal hurdles. It means that journalists and lawyers have to work closely together. Sometimes that leads to tension because the reporter wants as much information as possible made public but the lawyer has the responsibility of ensuring the story can stand up in court in case anyone sues. In other words, that it can be proven to the court that it is true. The lawyer also is protecting the financial position of the media organisation and both its and the journalist’s reputation. In my experience the arrangement works pretty well because both are motivated by exposing wrong doing, corruption and so on.

My latest interview is with Peter Bartlett, a media lawyer who has acted for The Age and Nine for 50 years. In the interview he talks about the case in which war hero Ben Roberts-Smith sued Nine and its reporters over stories he had killed unarmed civilians in Afghanistan. The stakes were very high: had Nine lost it could have cost the company $30 million leading to retrenchments, and a chilling effect generally on investigative reporting. Lots more too. I hope you like my interview. You can watch it here: https://democracyswatchdogs.org

Bill Birnbauer, CEO Democracy’s Watchdogs