Empowering Local News

Heather E. Murray is the Associate Director of Cornell Law School’s First Amendment Clinic and the Managing Attorney of the Clinic’s Local Journalism Project. She previously was a litigation associate at two international law firms and received a 2018 Law360 Distinguished Legal Writing Award from the Burton Foundation. Prior to her legal career, Heather worked as a journalist at local newspapers in New York.

Heather is a graduate of Cornell Law School and of Duke University. She credits her law school experience in the Labor Law Clinic and the e-Government Clinic, one of President Obama’s flagship open government initiatives, with inspiring and informing her clinical work.

Heather is a member of the advisory committee of ProJourn, a pro bono initiative for journalists housed at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. She also serves as chair of the board of directors of Queens-based child welfare agency Forestdale, Inc.

Adam J. Tragone is the Local Journalism Attorney at Cornell Law School’s First Amendment Clinic. Based in Pittsburgh, Adam helps news outlets and independent journalists in western Pennsylvania with a wide range of legal services, including seeking access to public records as well as court proceedings and records, defending against subpoenas, conducting pre-publication review, and providing libel defense. He also provides a variety of operations and commercial-related legal support, from contract drafting and review to advice on corporate organization, fiscal sponsorship, IP, employee issues, privacy, and physical and data security.

Adam’s background is in journalism and First Amendment litigation. He has worked at two national nonprofit public interest firms as well as regional firms in Pittsburgh. He also served as a Visiting Professor of Legal Writing at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University, receiving the Adjunct Professor Award from Duquesne’s Student Bar Association in the fall of 2022. Before going to law school, Adam was the managing editor of a weekly newspaper in Washington, D.C.

Paula Knudsen Burke is the Senior Supervising Attorney with Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, leading the organization’s legal work in Pennsylvania as part of the Local Legal Initiative. Paula joined the Reporters Committee in 2020 from LNP Media Group, Inc., in Lancaster.

A licensed Pennsylvania attorney for two decades, Paula has worked in both the legal and media fields. In 2017, she helped launch The Caucus, a watchdog publication covering state government and politics. She also led the investigations and enterprise team as an editor at LNP Media Group, Inc., the publisher of The Caucus.

Before joining The Caucus, Paula was the director of government affairs at the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, where she worked on legislative issues impacting print and digital news outlets in the state, including advocating for improvements to the state’s Right-to-Know Law and Sunshine Act. Paula has also worked in private practice and nonprofit law, beginning her career as an Equal Justice Works Fellow.

Paula is a graduate of the Dickinson School of Law of The Pennsylvania State University. She also received her undergraduate degrees in both Journalism and Spanish from Penn State. Paula is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Bar/Press Committee and the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition.

Halle Stockton leads Pittsburgh’s Public Source as Editor-in-Chief and Co-Executive Director, guiding the newsroom’s strategy to bring trusted, independent journalism closer to the communities it serves. Halle began her career as a reporter at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune before joining Public Source in 2012, where she has helped shape its growth from a startup into a nationally recognized newsroom honored for overall excellence and investigative and enterprise reporting.

Halle’s own reporting has earned national recognition, including a Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society of Professional Journalists and finalist honors for the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists. In 2017, the Institute for Nonprofit News named her one of 10 Emerging Leaders in nonprofit journalism. A native of Erie, Pa., Halle is a Penn State graduate and proud alumna of The Daily Collegian.