There can be no argument that we live in challenging times.

For working journalists, we know those challenges seem greater than ever. And we get why that is the case. Over the last five years, we have seen more polarization and change in attitudes than in the fifty years prior. And whether you have been working for just the past few years or for decades, covering the news in some situations has never been more challenging.

Take, for instance, the assignment that you may be confronted with seemingly any day now—covering a public protest.

The size and frequency of public protests have grown in the past year. Given that law enforcement officers may be involved in these events, either in their traditional role of maintaining public safety or as the object of the protest itself. All working journalists and those who manage them need to be current on the legal “rules of the road” before engaging in covering these situations.

Given the potential for such situations to develop in Minnesota, as in nearly every place these days, we were encouraged to see the Minnesota Journalism Center at the University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communications host a free online training event yesterday. The session, titled “Know Your Rights: Protest Safety and Police Interactions for Journalists,” featured a presentation from Jennifer Nelson, who is the Director of Pre-publication Review and Journalist Support at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Nelson did an outstanding job of covering the key points every journalist should know to protect themselves and their work in the midst of these unpredictable, volatile assignments. No matter how experienced or knowledgeable about the law you might be, a refresher on this information can only help when you need to know what your rights are and how best to exercise them. (Yes, even newsroom veterans like ourselves learned a thing or two in the session.

Major kudos to the Minnesota Journalism Center for being proactive and holding the session. We would strongly urge you to consider having your state broadcasters' association, SPJ chapter, ownership group, or any other professional organization follow their example and schedule similar training as soon as possible.

In the meantime, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (rcfp.org) has great online resources available on its website for individual journalists to review. Here is a link to a good starting point for you to do so.

Speaking of the RCFP, they are a vital resource as the leading pro bono legal services organization for journalists and newsrooms in the U.S. Their 24-hour hotline for journalists on media law and press freedom issues is a number every journalist should have in their pocket. They are a non-profit that could use support from everyone who values freedom of the press and strong journalism.

They didn’t ask, but we will strongly suggest that you consider donating to support their incredibly valuable work. Even a small contribution helps keep them doing what they do, so you can keep doing what you do. Donate by clicking right here. (That will take you directly to their webpage to do so.)

We’ll wrap this up by channeling the character of Sgt. Phil Esterhaus from the 1980s TV classic, “Hill Street Blues,” who ended every roll call with:

“Hey! Let’s be careful out there."

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(Allow us to suggest that you take a moment to share this edition with your colleagues and friends who could benefit from this reminder to be smart and stay safe.)