Whether barring individual citizen-journalists from accessing public records otherwise made available to news media, for lack of corporate personhood, violates the First Amendment freedoms of speech and press

QUESTION PRESENTED Brian Green operates “Libertys Champion,” a YouTube channel dedicated to exposing corruption and covering local court cases in Pierce County, Washington. The county denied Green’s request for public records that are restricted to “news media” under Wash. Rev. Code §§ 5.68.010(5) and 42.56.250(8), reasoning that Green is a citizen-journalist, not a corporate media entity. The Superior Court ordered the county to give Green the records. The Washington Supreme Court reversed. Turning aside Green’s First Amendment arguments, it held that certain public records could only be provided to members of the “news media” who have corporate personhood. The question presented is: Whether barring individual citizen-journalists from accessing public records otherwise made available to news media, for lack of corporate personhood, violates the First Amendment freedoms of speech and press.