PILnet partnered with Filip Noubel, Managing Editor at Global Voices, and David McCraw, deputy general counsel of the New York Times, to organize a mentoring workshop for the current editors at Global Voices to present best practices, advice, and strategies for legal issues the press faces.
Global Voices is an international, multilingual, primarily volunteer community of writers, translators, academics, and human rights activists, who together leverage the power of the internet to build understanding across borders. The editors at Global Voices, who have no legal background, learned in this workshop about libel and copyright laws within the US, how to handle anonymous sources, and the legal framework around these issues across various jurisdictions.
They also had the opportunity to network with and inspire each other since their in-person summit could not take place this year. One participant shared that, “…principles discussed, (distinctions between fact, opinion, statements) and the examples were extremely useful and strengthened the framing of our think[ing] as we edit.”
Inspired by the workshop, Global Voices editors will continue to share ideas and concerns about these issues and a similar workshop is planned for this summer, which will focus more on best practices and common issues within the European Union.This workshop was the result of a request for assistance that came through the PILnet Global Clearinghouse, a mechanism that connects civil society organizations to pro bono lawyers in PILnet’s global legal network who provide them with free, high-quality legal assistance. In addition to trainings like this, PILnet can obtain free legal advice, research, or analyses for civil society organizations via our clearinghouse.
