Accurate information is the gold standard of a democracy, and the process of obtaining and verifying public information can involve issues of social responsibility and values in conflict.
Among the issues in this section are:
- Press credentials: Government and other organizations issue press credentials that allow journalists to have access to public officials and news events. Until the Trump administration, partisan denial of press credentials was rare. With Trump as president, constant conflict with the press has become the norm. In the Oct. 15, 2025 video to the right, journalists turn in their Pentagon press passes and walk away from the beat rather than agree to department of defense restrictions on news reporting.
- Update: A federal judge sided with journalists in a case brought against the Pentagon on March 19. The immediate Department of Defense reaction was to close down the “correspondents corridor” and move journalists to a distant annex where it will be even harder to report the news.
- News gathering: Photos and videos — Journalists and members of the public are free to ask questions and take photos and videos of police and public officials at work. Drone video is relatively new, and the Professional Society of Drone Journalists keeps track of ethical and regulatory issues.
- News gathering: FOIA — Access to information through federal and state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) laws, and penalties for disclosing classified information;
- News gathering: Sunshine Law — Access to open, pre-announced public meetings through Sunshine Laws, aka Open Meeting Law, and questions about that access, for example, whether journalists should be confined to ‘press pens’ or press pools when politicians hold public events.
- Court coverage — Access to the courts, and criminal justice information, on an ethical basis respecting both the First and Sixth Amendments;
- Protecting sources from courts — Questions of privilege and protection of sources, especially involving state and federal “shield laws” for journalists;
- Protecting newsrooms from police — Although not legal under the Privacy Protection Act, police have been issuing search warrants in newsrooms;
- Trespassing and undercover journalism — There are questions about whether journalists can be charged with trespassing after following demonstrators onto private land;
- Identity — Questions about who is a journalist and whether there should be licensing laws and policies.
- Student journalists — Protection for student journalists at universities in the US.
- Financial problems and antitrust issues with the news media overall. Laws in other countries, and proposals in the US, aim to rectify an imbalance between big tech and traditional news media.
More Info:
Oct. 2018 — Freelance reporter Zachary Siegel is arrested in a Chicago courtroom for recording a murder trial on his own instead of using the press pool.
- Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press RCFP Handbook
- Press Freedom Tracker
- Reporters Without Borders
- Committee to Protect Journalists
- Virginia Coalition for Open Government (Freedom of Information Committee)
- Protecting journalists video