Spotlight: MFIA Visiting Clinical Lecturer David Bralow

David Bralow’s path to becoming one of the country’s leading First Amendment and media lawyers began in a newsroom, not a courtroom. With decades of experience in press freedom, newsroom lawyering, and public interest litigation, he joins the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic (MFIA) this year as a visiting clinical lecturer. 

“I was the city editor at the Clearwater Sun, which is now defunct,” he recalled. “I always felt like I wanted to have something more, you know, some basic additional expertise. And I thought, I’ll go to law school just for that purpose.”

Bralow went to law school in the evenings at Temple University while reporting during the days. 

“I really thought that at the end of law school, I would just go back to being a reporter,” he said. “I was interested in reporting about legal affairs and legal issues.” But as it turned out, Bralow became a really good law student, and instead of returning to journalism, he found his calling in media law.

Early Career in Media Law

Bralow’s early legal practice included work with regional newspapers owned by The New York Times, Knight-Ridder, and Media General while at Holland & Knight. 

“In my formative practice, I had the privilege of representing just about every paper at one time or another in the state of Florida and doing just about any type of work that news organizations would have,” he said.

Later, as in-house counsel for Tribune Company, he was responsible for a group of 11 newspapers, ranging from the Hartford Courant to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. 

“For the most part, it was all newspapers all the time,” Bralow said. “I still get a chill thinking about watching the papers come off the press, especially if you had a story in the daily edition.”

His trajectory would eventually bring him to The Intercept, where he currently serves as chief legal officer. August 2025 marks his eighth anniversary. 

“I have so enjoyed working for an organization that really has worked hard to be courageous storytellers as well as accurate and responsible,” he said.

Press Freedom Under Threat

Reflecting on some of the most urgent moments in his career, Bralow recalls the case of Orlando Sentinel’s battle to obtain autopsy records following the death of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt. 

“The purpose was to understand how to make that activity, auto racing, safer,” he explains. “Most of the messages were not particularly nice,” he adds, referencing the public backlash the newsroom received. “It actually shut my computer down.”

Bralow has also worked on legal issues involving national security reporting, including The Intercept’s coverage of whistleblower Reality Winner. The case, he explains, illustrates how the government often responds to journalism that reveals uncomfortable truths. 

“People forget that what happens in these cases is that the government is embarrassed by the information that is being published and attacks the messenger for publishing the information,” he said. 

The Intercept examined its practices after Reality’s arrest and now works with other outlets to increase and support source protection, he said.

He sees such tactics as part of a broader trend in which press freedom is under siege. 

“Now we even face the struggle of making sure that information can be disseminated,” he said. “And who’s going to disseminate it? And if the news organization does their job, are they going to be targeted?”

The Role of Legal Infrastructure

As resources for newsrooms continue to shrink, Bralow believes nonprofit legal organizations are critical to protecting press rights. 

“Programs like MFIA do several things,” he said. “They work towards the development of the law in such a way as to protect press and transparency and access rights .”

He adds that clinics like MFIA don’t just provide legal advice, they provide infrastructure. 

“Giving these news organizations or giving these documentarians (for the DocProject) the services that will allow them to get their content, their films to market and provide them additional infrastructure is key in a world where resources are just not as plentiful.”

He also discusses the importance of operational support. 

“There’s a step between legal advice and operationalizing that advice that is very important,” Bralow noted. “And without that step … the news organization is only getting half of what it really needs to have to be fully functioning and on the road to sustainability.”

A Call to Young Lawyers

When asked what he wishes early-career media lawyers understood better, Bralow doesn’t hesitate. 

“The people that do media work — the newspaper lawyers, the broadcast people, the entertainment — it is an exceptional bar with exceptional people who really care about what they’re doing,” he said.

But he also notes that the opportunities for young lawyers to gain courtroom experience are dwindling. 

“I was in court every day, every week. I was either fighting for access to public records or fighting for access for judicial documents or resisting a subpoena,” he said. “I’m not sure that the news organizations have those resources to be able to do that kind of transparency work.”

That’s why he believes in the value of programs like MFIA.

“It’s introducing these — by all measures, the students I work with have me so outpaced in talent and ability — and it’s just great to see that MFIA has the ability to get them on their feet … because it really gives people confidence,” Bralow said. “And it also creates incredible advocates for press freedom.”

Continuing the Work

In addition to his work at The Intercept, Bralow serves as legal director of the Press Freedom Defense Fund. The fund has supported Rappler co-founder and Nobel laureate Maria Ressa and journalists working in Belarus, among others.

“We are thinking about … operationalizing legal advice and best practices and helping news organizations provide access to our security people,” he said. 

The fund is also offering microgrants to protest reporters and pursuing advocacy work such as filing amicus briefs, as well as working directly with several newsrooms to strengthen their infrastructure.

In a media environment increasingly shaped by legal risk, disappearing resources, and hostile political actors, Bralow sees these efforts as essential. 

“Journalism on this local level requires courage,” he said. “And the stakes … the stakes are very high.”