The Citizen Media Law Project (CMLP) is hosted by Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, a research center founded to explore cyberspace, share in its study, and help pioneer its development.
Our Mission
CMLP's mission is to provide assistance, training, research, and other resources for individuals and organizations involved in online and citizen media. We aim to serve as a catalyst for creative thinking about the intersection of law and journalism on the Internet. Through the project’s website, the active engagement of lawyers and scholars, and occasional sponsored conferences, we are working to build a community of lawyers, academics, and others who are interested in facilitating citizen participation in online media and protecting the legal rights of those engaged in speech on the Internet.
CMLP's newest endeavor is the Online Media Legal Network (OMLN), a pro bono initiative that connects lawyers and law school clinics from across the country with online journalists and digital media creators who need legal help.
Our Partners
One of the strengths of the CMLP is our affiliation with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and the Center for Citizen Media. We are also grateful for the generous financial support of the Open Society Foundations, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Harnisch Foundation, and the Philip L. Graham Fund.
Berkman Center for Internet & Society: The Berkman Center is a research center founded at Harvard Law School in 1997. Now a University-wide Center, it serves as the locus for a network of Harvard and other faculty, students, fellows, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and others working to identify and engage with the challenges and opportunities presented by the Internet. The Center investigates the real and possible boundaries in cyberspace between open and closed systems of speech, of commerce, of governance, and of education, and the relationship of law to each.
The Berkman Center has been at the forefront of efforts to study and facilitate online expression, including, among other initiatives: publishing Media Re:public, a series of papers exploring the potential and the challenges of the emerging networked digital media environment; launching Global Voices Online, a nonprofit that aggregates and disseminates the views expressed in blogs throughout the world; and hosting the 2005 Blogging, Journalism, and Credibility Conference, which brought together professional journalists, bloggers, news executives, media scholars, and lawyers to study the emerging media environment on the Internet.
Center for Citizen Media:Co-sponsored by the Berkman Center and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, the mission of the Center for Citizen Media is to enhance and expand the emerging field of citizen media,with a focus on quality journalism.
Online Media Legal Network: CMLP also operates the Online Media Legal Network which provides legal assistance to innovative online journalists and digital media creators. We are grateful to the many organizations that have partnered with OMLN to provide this assistance, including the Online News Association, the National Freedom of Information Coalition, Committee to Protect Journalists, Media Legal Defence Initiative, New Media Rights, and J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism.
Our Supporters
The Open Society Foundations: The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve this mission, the Foundations seek to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, the Open Society Foundations implement a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media.
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation: The Knight Foundation promotes journalism excellence worldwide and invests in the vitality of the U.S. communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Since 1950 the foundation has granted more than $300 million to advance journalism quality and freedom of expression. Knight Foundation supports ideas and projects that create transformational change.
The Harnisch Foundation: Since 1998, The Harnisch Foundation has been a catalyst for sustainable social change, funding and implementing innovation in the fields of philanthropy, coaching and journalism. The Foundation's belief is that philanthropy, coaching and journalism are ways of making a powerful difference in the world through the lives of individuals.
Philip L. Graham Fund: Established in 1963, the Fund is named for Philip L. Graham, who was publisher of The Washington Post and president of The Washington Post Company for many years before his death. From its earliest days, the Fund's mission has been, first, to use its resources for the betterment of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and, second, to support activities that will foster improvements in the field of journalism and communications.
Volunteer, Intern, and Employment Opportunities
We are always interested in help from individuals with a legal orjournalism background. We offer paid and unpaid internships, as well asvolunteer opportunities. Lawyers, journalists, and law students of all levels are especially encouraged to apply.
Applicants should have a demonstrated interest in and enthusiasmfor journalism, citizen media or technology-related legal issues, alongwith excellent research and writing skills and the initiative andenergy to see projects to completion in a fast-moving environment.
For more information on how you can get involved, please go here: How to support the CMLP.
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