An investigation by the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations into the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s editorial decisions on how to assign its reporters is an unconstitutional violation of the newspaper’s First Amendment rights, according to a lawsuit filed by the company in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

In addition to a declaration that the commission’s investigation violates the news organization’s right to freedom of the press, the lawsuit seeks injunctions blocking any commission action that would violate such rights and ordering the investigation to be terminated.

The case involves the Pittsburgh commission’s investigation into allegations of employment discrimination at the newspaper, based on its assignment of reporters to coverage of recent social protests. The newspaper's position is that there can be no compromise of the First Amendment.

“Requiring a newspaper to report to a political body to explain or justify its editorial decisions and staff assignments is precisely what the First Amendment was designed to prevent,” states the suit filed on behalf of the Post-Gazette and its Toledo, Ohio-based parent company Block Communications Inc.

John Robinson Block, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Post-Gazette, said, “We filed this lawsuit to protect the First Amendment rights of all who want to be able to report the news free from government supervision. It is a fundamental principle of journalistic ethics that reporters should not cover events about which they have taken a public position.

“Here, the Post-Gazette applied that time-tested principle to its news staff evenhandedly. The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly — and unanimously — held that the First Amendment protects our editorial decision to enforce these journalistic ethics. Under our system, it is not the government’s proper role to supervise the newsroom, and we are confident that the court will make that clear when it rules on our case."

First Published: August 18, 2020, 11:32 p.m.