Lyndsey Wajert joins Reporters Committee’s Technology and Press Freedom Project

Lyndsey Wajert recently joined the Reporters Committee as a legal fellow for the Technology and Press Freedom Project, where she focuses on press freedom issues related to technology, privacy, and government surveillance.

“It’s been really interesting and rewarding to learn more by really just diving into a lot of these pretty complex issues while discussing with my team how best to advocate for journalists in this field,” she said.

Lyndsey is one of three fellows working under the guidance of Gabe Rottman, who directs the Technology and Press Freedom Project. The team recently launched a weekly newsletter exploring a wide range of press freedom issues linked to everything from reporter-source confidentiality protections to content regulation online.

“I’ve really enjoyed working on that,” said Lyndsey, who hopes to sharpen her legal writing skills as a member of the team. “It allows me to sort of tap into my previous journalism skills and synthesize some of the big issues that are happening in this field. We’ve been able to sort of combine legal analysis with a newsy feel.”

Lyndsey’s interest in media law began in high school, when she first considered becoming an in-house lawyer at a media organization. As an undergraduate at The George Washington University, Lyndsey studied journalism and mass communication. In 2011, during her junior year, she joined the Reporters Committee for the first time as a communications intern.

“I studied journalism, but I couldn’t escape this idea of wanting to go and study law and work on these issues, but in a legal capacity,” she said.

After earning her undergraduate degree, Lyndsey worked as a program director at the International Center for Journalists, where she spent four years helping journalists around the world develop their reporting skills.

While attending law school at Boston University, Lyndsey worked with the school’s Technology Law Clinic, the Public Participation Project, the New England First Amendment Coalition, and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. She graduated from Boston University School of Law in May 2019.