UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

ABDULRAHMAN ALHARBI,
Plaintiff,
v.
GLENN BECK; THE BLAZE, INC.;
MERCURY RADIO ARTS, INC.; AND
PREMIERE RADIO NETWORKS, INC.,
Defendants.

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CIVIL ACTION
NO. 1:14-cv-11550-PBS

MOTION OF MASSACHUSETTS NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION, NEW

ENGLAND FIRST AMENDMENT COUNCIL AND NEW ENGLAND NEWSPAPER
AND PRESS ASSOCIATION, INC. FOR LEAVE TO FILE AMICUS BRIEF
Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association (MNPA), New England First
Amendment Council (NEFAC), and New England Newspaper and Press Association, Inc.
(NENPA) respectfully move for leave to file a 9-page amicus brief with respect to the
plaintiffs motion to compel the disclosure of confidential sources currently pending before the
Court. A copy of the proposed amicus brief is filed as an exhibit to this motion.
INTEREST OF AMICI
The Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association (MNPA) is a voluntary
association of daily and weekly newspapers published through the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. It represents those newspapers in legal and legislative matters of common
concern. In particular, the MNPA focuses on preserving freedom of speech and the publics
right to know. MNPA does not have a parent company, and no publicly held corporation owns
10% or more of its stock.

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The New England First Amendment Coalition (NEFAC) is a nonprofit organization

that defends, promotes, and expands public access to government and the work it does. The
coalition is a broad-based organization of lawyers, journalists, historians, librarians, and
academics, as well as private citizens and organizations whose core beliefs include the principles
of the First Amendment. The coalition aspires to advance and protect the five freedoms of the
First Amendment and the principle of the public's right to know in New England. NEFAC does
not have a parent company, and no publicly held corporation owns 10% or more of its stock.
New England Newspaper and Press Association, Inc. (NENPA) is a professional trade
association comprising more than 450 daily, weekly, and specialty newspapers across all six
New England states (including Massachusetts).

NENPA is the principal advocate for the

regions newspapers, helping them to successfully fulfill their mission to engage and inform the
public.
GROUNDS FOR REQUEST
Movants have filed briefs as amicus curiae in Massachusetts courts on numerous
occasions in matters affecting the interests of Massachusetts newspapers. The pending motion to
compel is of particular interest to movants because Massachusetts journalists regularly confront
situations in which sources insist on confidentiality in exchange for providing newsworthy
information about federal, state and local officials performance of their public duties and other
matters of legitimate public concern.

Judicial determinations of whether a plaintiff has

demonstrated a need for the disclosure of confidential news sources and has exhausted
alternative sources of the information sought from journalists therefore has a significant impact
on the editorial decisions made in newsrooms every day. See generally Bruno & Stillman, Inc. v.
Globe Newspaper Co., 633 F.2d 583, 598 (1st Cir. 1980) (noting the precedential effect which
decision in any one case would be likely to have in this field).
Movants recognize that the Court has the benefit of prior briefing by the parties on
plaintiffs motion to compel. The purpose of their proposed brief is to not to repeat those
arguments but rather to address two of the legal prerequisites to a libel plaintiff obtaining an
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order to disclose a confidential news source: (1) a showing that the plaintiff has a substantial,
non-speculative need for a confidential sources identity that outweighs the interest in protecting
the free flow of information; and (2) a showing that the plaintiff has exhausted alternative
sources of that information. Amici respectfully submit that their perspective may assist the
Court in resolving the important issues raised by the plaintiffs motion to compel.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association, New
England First Amendment Council, and New England Newspaper and Press Association, Inc.
respectfully request leave to submit an amicus brief with respect to plaintiffs pending motion to
compel the disclosure of confidential news sources.
MASSACHUSETTS NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION, NEW
ENGLAND FIRST AMENDMENT
COUNCIL, AND NEW ENGLAND
NEWSPAPER AND PRESS
ASSOCIATION, INC.
By their attorneys,

/s/ Jonathan M. Albano

Jonathan M. Albano, Bar No. 013850
jonathan.albano@morganlewis.com
MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS LLP
One Federal Street
Boston, MA 02110-1726
Telephone:
+1.617.341.7700
Facsimile:
+1.617.341.7701
Dated: August 4, 2016

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I, Jonathan M. Albano, hereby certify that this document filed through the ECF
system will be sent electronically to the registered participants as identified on the Notice of
Electronic Filing (NEF) and paper copies will be sent to those indicated as non-registered
participants on August 5, 2016.
/s/Jonathan M. Albano
Jonathan M. Albano

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