Helping Iowa journalists stay out of trouble
A generous attorney reflects on his career
Whether you’re a journalist or a news consumer, you need to know about a guy being honored this week as he wraps up a 43-year career as a Des Moines lawyer. He’s been the best friend Iowa journalists have had – whether they know it or not.
Mike Giudicessi is retiring from Faegre Drinker law firm after decades practicing First Amendment law. He’s been able to advance the rights of reporters and the Iowans who depend on them. And he’s often done it for no charge. Why? Continue reading.
I’ve known Mike longer than I care to admit. We graduated from the same class at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in 1976. It was a j-school professor who inspired Mike to go to law school and fight for reporters’ rights in his home state of Iowa. Mike thought it was something he would be good at. He was right.
After law school at the University of Iowa, Mike worked as an in-house lawyer for the Des Moines Register and later as general counsel at Palmer Communications, which owned the WHO stations in Des Moines. Mike then joined a law firm in Des Moines, and at every step of the way, he fought to protect journalists and advance their access to courtrooms, government meetings and documents.
“When I started my career in-house, I got to be part of news organizations,” Giudicessi told me this week. “I developed a real respect for what the journalists were doing. When I worked at the Register, you could feel the building moving when the presses started. When I worked for Palmer, I could walk down to the control room and watch the 6 pm news. You could see how it was being done. You could feel the power of the medium. I could be in a supportive role to make sure the journalists either didn’t get in trouble or you got them out of trouble.”
Giudicessi is one of the most knowledgeable and successful lawyers in the Midwest on First Amendment law. He’s incredibly generous, often pursuing cases or writing legal briefs pro bono. I asked him why, since last time I checked, media companies made plenty of money, at least until recent times.
A generous lawyer
“I always felt when the need would come, they would pay me my hourly rates. When it was absolutely essential. But when the choice was between a (newsroom’s) discretionary expenditure, for example suing to get access to a public body’s meeting or suing to get access to government records, that discretionary income might not be spent on lawyers, it might be better spent on two more news positions or a new camera. I always felt it was important those issues be pursued by newsrooms that wanted to pursue them even though they didn’t have a budget to do it,” Giudicessi says.
He feels fortunate to have worked for a law firm that “doesn’t squeeze every penny” and that compensates its lawyers, in part, on how they serve the community.
Absolutely essential
Mike has given plenty of free advice over the years. But the station where I served as news director, KCCI-TV, also found it “absolutely essential” to pay his hourly rate in 2001 when we were sued for libel. It’s unusual for a lawsuit against a media entity to go to trial. The cases usually are worked out, or a judge will dismiss the lawsuit. I was a nervous wreck as I was the face of the station at the defense table for five days of trial testimony. Mike and his colleagues aggressively defended us. After a week-long trial, it didn’t take the jury long to decide that our story was true. It was a huge relief. Giudicessi considers it one of his most memorable cases.
“You were vindicated by a truth verdict,” he says. “We were vindicated because the jury did it in less than two hours. You did your job, and we did our job.”
After the verdict, he told me the case would make me a better news director. He was right. I became more cautious making news decisions and learned I could never take my eye off the ball while running a newsroom. Check every fact. Ask lots of questions, even on a seemingly insignificant story.
“It’s always the small story, always the fast story that comes up and bites you in the rear,” Giudicessi says. “No journalist knows until they’ve been through it that it’s those small details that may slip in the heat of the moment that may come back and cause the problem.”
Concern for the future
As he nears the end of his career, he plans to occasionally help Iowa journalists as a solo practitioner. He worries about the decline of the media industry.
In the 1980s, an aggressive press and broadcast industry took on cases to establish journalists’ rights, rights they enjoyed for several decades. But around the 2008 recession, newsroom budgets came under pressure and owners were less willing to take on expensive legal battles. “I hope it’s a pendulum and I hope we’re at the extreme of the pendulum,” he says.
He also worries about changes in Iowa’s judicial system. “In Iowa, what made it a great state to practice First Amendment law and be a journalist, is that our courts have been terrific in recognizing and advancing our rights. Thank heavens for the judges we have had. They have been fiercely independent and virtually apolitical. I don’t know where that’s going to go. I don’t think their independence is valued by the other two branches.”
Giudicessi was honored by his firm this week, and he spoke at the Iowa Freedom of Information Council meeting last night, where he’s donated much legal expertise over the years. IFOIC executive director Randy Evans says, “If we paid for all the time he’s devoted, it would be incalculable.”
He’s been a successful lawyer. He’s been part owner of the Iowa Cubs. He’s helped make Iowa a better place to live. All Iowans owe Mike Giudicessi thanks for his devotion to open government, cameras in the courts and a strong news media.
“When journalists lose their rights,” he says, “the public loses their rights.”
A reminder that proceeds from Dave Busiek on Media are donated to the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, which does wonderful work keeping Iowa government open and accessible to the news media and the public. If you’re a paid subscriber, thank you! If not, please consider it. An annual subscription is only $5.83 a month.
Paid subscribers to any of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative columns are invited to a holiday party with the writers on Thursday, December 7th, 5:00-6:30 pm, at the Witmer House, 2900 Grand Avenue in Des Moines. Click below to reserve your spot. I look forward to seeing you there!
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Thanks for taking the time to give a shout out for a good guy. Thanks for reminding readers: “When journalists lose their rights,” he says, “the public loses their rights.” When journalists lose their rights, we lose our democracy and society loses.
Great article