Glossary

Terms used in the record, with a definition and sources for each.

Access journalism: A term for reporting that depends on maintaining a source's or institution's goodwill to preserve continued access. The term is often invoked in debates over how outlets should respond to credential or access threats.
Actual malice standard: The First Amendment standard from New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) requiring a public official or public figure suing for defamation to prove the defendant published a false statement knowing it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth.
Anti-SLAPP law: A statute allowing a defendant sued over protected speech on a matter of public concern to seek early dismissal of the suit and, often, recovery of attorney's fees, intended to deter strategic lawsuits against public participation. Anti-SLAPP protections vary by state, and no comprehensive federal anti-SLAPP law exists.
Chilling effect: The discouragement of legitimate speech or newsgathering caused by fear of legal, financial or physical consequences, even where no formal prohibition exists. Courts and press-freedom organizations cite documented chilling effects, such as sources avoiding contact with reporters, as a measurable harm from surveillance or prosecution threats.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB): A private, nonprofit corporation chartered by Congress in 1967 to distribute federal funding to public radio and television stations, including through NPR and PBS member stations. CPB does not itself produce programming; it funds the public broadcasting system.
Credentialing: The process by which a government body or institution decides which journalists may receive access credentials, such as a hard pass, badge or press card, to cover it. Credentialing rules and who controls them, government officials or a press organization, shape which outlets can report from inside a given institution.
Day pass: A single-day credential allowing a journalist to enter the White House for one specific day, requiring a new application each time. Reporters without a hard pass, including many local and less-frequent White House correspondents, rely on day passes for occasional coverage.
Embedded journalist: A journalist attached to a military unit or other organization for an extended period, traveling and living alongside it to report from close range, typically under rules of engagement negotiated with that organization, such as the Pentagon's press-credentialing rules.
Espionage Act: An 18 U.S.C. Chapter 37 federal law, first passed in 1917, criminalizing the unauthorized gathering, retention or transmission of national-defense information. It has increasingly been used against government employees and contractors who leak classified information to journalists, rather than against foreign spies.
FCC news distortion policy: A long-standing Federal Communications Commission policy under which the agency can, in narrow circumstances, act against a broadcast licensee for deliberately staging or falsifying news, while the FCC generally does not regulate broadcast content or editorial decisions under the First Amendment.
Foreign agent law: A law requiring individuals or organizations receiving foreign support, or deemed to act on behalf of foreign interests, to register with the state and accept added restrictions or reporting obligations. Russia has expanded its foreign-agent framework to cover independent and exiled journalists.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): A 1966 federal law giving the public, including journalists, a legal right to request records from federal executive-branch agencies, subject to specified exemptions such as national security and personal privacy. Most U.S. states have parallel public-records laws covering state and local government.
Gag order: A court order restricting parties, attorneys or, in rarer cases, the press from publicly discussing a pending case. Gag orders directed at the press are a form of prior restraint and face heightened constitutional scrutiny.
Hard pass: A White House-issued credential granting a journalist routine, standing access to the White House grounds and press facilities without applying for entry each time, as distinct from a single-use day pass. Hard passes are issued to reporters who regularly cover the White House and can be suspended or revoked by White House staff.
Leak investigation: A government inquiry, often criminal, into the unauthorized disclosure of nonpublic information to the press. Leak investigations can include surveillance of reporters' phone or email records and, in the most serious cases, prosecution of the source under statutes such as the Espionage Act.
National Security Law (Hong Kong): A law imposed on Hong Kong by China's National People's Congress Standing Committee in 2020 criminalizing secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. Press-freedom organizations say it has been used to prosecute journalists and shut down independent outlets, including Apple Daily.
On background / on background: A sourcing arrangement in which a source's information may be reported but the source may not be named, or may be described only in general terms the source and reporter agree on in advance, as distinct from on-the-record or off-the-record arrangements.
Pool report: The written or recorded account a pool reporter produces after covering a limited-access event, distributed to the full White House press corps so outlets not present can report the same facts. Pool reports are a practical mechanism for extending small-space access across the whole press corps.
Press pool: A small rotating group of reporters and photographers who cover events in spaces too small for the full press corps, such as the Oval Office or Air Force One, and share their notes, audio, video or photographs with all other accredited outlets.
Prior restraint: A government action that blocks speech or publication before it occurs, rather than punishing it afterward, as in the Pentagon Papers case. The Supreme Court held that "any system of prior restraints of expression comes to this Court bearing a heavy presumption against its constitutional validity" in New York Times Co. v. United States (1971).
Public forum doctrine: A body of First Amendment law classifying government property by how much the government may restrict speech there, ranging from traditional public forums with the strongest protection to nonpublic forums such as the Oval Office, where the government has broad discretion over access.
Sherrill v. Knight standard: The rule from Sherrill v. Knight (D.C. Cir. 1977) that once the White House opens access to the press generally, it may not deny an individual journalist's press pass arbitrarily or for less than compelling reasons, and must give notice of the reasons, a chance to respond, and a final written explanation.
Shield law: A statute or rule giving journalists a legal privilege to refuse to disclose confidential sources or unpublished material in legal proceedings. Most U.S. states have some form of shield law; no federal shield law has been enacted, leaving federal cases governed by Justice Department internal guidelines instead.
SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation): A lawsuit filed less to win on the merits than to burden a defendant, such as a journalist or news outlet, with the cost and time of litigation over speech on a matter of public concern, discouraging further reporting or comment.
Subpoena (to a journalist): A legal order compelling a journalist to testify or produce records, such as notes, communications or unpublished material, often sought to identify a confidential source. Journalists' ability to resist such subpoenas depends on applicable shield laws or, at the federal level, Justice Department guidelines.
Viewpoint discrimination: Government action that treats speech differently based on the specific position or opinion it expresses, rather than its subject matter generally. Courts treat viewpoint discrimination as especially disfavored under the First Amendment, including in the government's control of access to otherwise-open forums.
White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA): A private, nonprofit professional association of journalists accredited to cover the White House. For more than a century the WHCA managed rotation of the press pool among its member outlets; in February 2025 the White House took over that role itself.