Press Freedom Defense Fund - Trainings

The Press Freedom Defense Fund offers industrywide training programs that address the rapidly evolving threat landscape facing reporters, with practical, hands-on guidance.

Purpose: Equip newsrooms and journalists with operational security expertise, legal compliance knowledge, and risk-mitigation strategies.

Training Topics:

• Source protection
• Covering protests safely
• Protecting sensitive information during raids
• Digital security
• Document retention
• Legal compliance
• Safeguarding journalism in the AI era

Target Audience:

• Journalists working with confidential sources
• Newsroom technology managers and IT staff
• Editors overseeing sensitive reporting projects
• Freelancers handling confidential information
• Smaller newsrooms without risk-mitigation infrastructure

Key Services:

• Industrywide training programs
• Compliance Assurance Program (in partnership with Vance Center's Lawyers for Reporters)
• Operational security expertise
• Legal support and advocacy
• Amicus briefs in precedent-setting cases

Leadership:

• Nikita Mazurov: Security researcher focusing on source protection
• David S. Bralow: Chief legal officer of The Intercept, co-director of the Fund, adjunct faculty at Yale Law School's Media Freedom of Information & Access Clinic
• Sumi Aggarwal: Chief strategy officer and investigative reporter/editor, co-director of the Fund