Legal Considerations

By Chris Roush
June 9, 2009

In a time when the performance of business journalists is being investigated closely to determine whether they have the skill set to do their jobs, let me add another log to the fire.

Business journalists need to learn more now about the law and how it applies to what they do. Current litigation against business journalists and other legal issues make it imperative.

Just look around, and you’ll see why. Without knowledge of the law and how it relates to business journalism, a reporter can’t report and write the best stories.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is about to return to his job after taking a leave of absence for medical reasons. While medical records are considered private, some argue that the disclosure of Jobs’ medical records would be in the public interest because people have invested millions in the company’s stock based on his ability to continue to drive it to create new tech gadgets for us to purchase.

But when was the last time any of you read the privacy provision of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which governs the release of health status and coverage information related to individuals? What would you do if a source gave you his health records?

There’s the lawsuit in New Jersey, filed in 2006 by real estate developer Donald Trump, who sued The New York Times business journalist Timothy O’Brien. In his lawsuit, Trump alleged that O’Brien’s book defamed him by stating that his net worth was in the hundreds of millions of dollars, not in the billions of dollars that Trump asserts.

Isn’t Trump a public figure? We’ll see what the court decides.

Media organizations such as The New York Times, Bloomberg News and Fox Business Network have filed lawsuits in the past year against the federal government, seeking access to records for the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, to gain access to details of financial bailout.

While some of these lawsuits have been successful, the federal government has still resisted releasing much of this information. Do you know what is public record and what isn’t?

And then there’s the whole issue of international law, which isn’t as media friendly as in the United States. Just ask The Wall Street Journal, which has been found in contempt of court and fined twice in Singapore in the past year.

There is no easy solution to this lack of knowledge of law related to business journalism. I’ve contacted a few attorneys, including some who represent business media outlets, in recent weeks, and they are aware of certain cases that affect business reporting.

But when it comes to providing a resource or repository of information for reporters and editors as it relates specifically to writing and reporting about companies and the economy, there’s nothing.

In other words, you’re on your own. I hope your media outlet has a good attorney.

Copyright © 2009 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism