Appellate Division Confirms Reorg Research Journalists Have Benefit of Shield Law in Unanimous Ruling

NEW YORK, Jul 14, 2017 (BUSINESS WIRE) —
Reorg Research, the leading provider of real-time news, commentary, and
analysis on the distressed debt and leveraged finance markets, welcomed
a unanimous 5-0 decision from the First Department Appellate Division of
the New York Supreme Court finding that Reorg Research’s editorial team
is protected by New York’s Shield Law from being compelled to disclose
the identities of its confidential sources.

Kent Collier, Founder and CEO of Reorg Research, said, “We are extremely
pleased by the court’s decision. In this evolving media landscape, it
sends a powerful message that journalistic freedom is important and
worth protecting. I could not be prouder of our entire team here at
Reorg, and I look forward to continuing to provide our subscribers with
the very best news and analysis in the industry.”

The ruling was in response to a pre-action petition filed by Murray
Energy seeking to force Reorg to divulge the identities of confidential
sources who contributed to stories on Murray’s financial results and an
agreement between the company and one of its labor unions. While Murray
had argued that Reorg’s limited subscriber base, restrictions on further
dissemination of its stories and relatively high fees precluded it from
being protected by the Shield Law, the court found that such features
are “not uncommon” in today’s media landscape. The court added that the
result of ruling in Murray’s favor “is not broader coverage but no
coverage at all.”

Not only did the court find that Reorg was protected by the Shield Law,
but it also noted that the holding “is consistent with New York’s ‘long
tradition…of providing the utmost protection of freedom of the press’”
and “[t]o condition coverage on a fact-intensive inquiry analyzing a
publication’s number of subscribers, subscription fees, and the extent
to which it allows further dissemination of information is unworkable
and would create substantial prospective uncertainty, leading to a
potential ‘chilling’ effect.”

The full ruling can be found here.

About Reorg Research

Reorg Research is an industry-leading provider of real-time news,
analysis and commentary on issues affecting the distressed debt,
event-driven and leveraged finance markets. The company’s mission is to
provide independent, insightful and timely market intelligence and
analysis to subscribers–which include leading asset managers, hedge
funds, investment banks, law firms and financial advisors–so they can
make better business and investment decisions. Reorg Research consists
of a dedicated team of journalists and legal, financial and policy
analysts that leverage the firm’s proprietary technology to provide a
comprehensive view of the situations that are important to its
subscribers.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170714005523/en/

SOURCE: Reorg Research

Prosek Partners
Josh Clarkson, 212-279-3115 x259
jclarkson@prosek.com

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