News media outlets seeking to find out who else knew about Bridgegate argued Friday there was no compelling reason for the government to keep the list a secret.

In a court filing, the media organizations--including NJ Advance Media, which provides content for The Star-Ledger, NJ.com and other affiliated properties--said the legal case has received "extraordinary public attention," and the public had a right to know the names of any public officials who may have been involved in the scheme to shut down lanes at the George Washington Bridge in 2013.

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman has opposed the disclosure of the names of all unindicted co-conspirators in the corruption scandal in which two former associates of the governor have been charged.

In the 25-page filing, the news organizations noted the U.S. Attorney's office itself has already provided detailed information to the public regarding the alleged conspiracy by former associates of Gov. Chris Christie who sought to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee after he declined to endorse the Republican governor for re-election.

"Given the government's position that the people of Fort Lee were 'callously victimized' and 'the public has a right to expect better,' there is no good reason, let alone a compelling reason, for it to shield the list of unindicted coconspirators from public access," said attorney Bruce Rosen in a filing on behalf of the news organizations.

The U.S. Attorney's Office has asked the judge in the case to keep any documents under seal in the case related to the names of anyone not criminally charged, but may have known about the plot to cause massive traffic disruptions in Fort Lee.

The media groups, in their filing, said the government is disregarding established law in favor of the suggestion that the "government knows best" when the public should have access to information to which it is constitutionally entitled.

"The government should not be permitted to, on the one hand, feed information to the public regarding the conspiracy in an attempt to bring public attention to this case and, on the other hand, claim the public is too uninformed to grasp the importance of the names of those individuals participating in the conspiracy," said Rosen in the filing.

Awaiting trial in the case are William Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Bridget Anne Kelly, the governor's former deputy chief of staff, who prosecutors said were responsible for planning the massive traffic tie-ups in Fort Lee in September 2013, after Mayor Mark Sokolich refused to support Christie.

Former Port Authority official David Wildstein, who was hired by Baroni and orchestrated the bridge lane closures, pleaded guilty in the case last year.

Citing the First Amendment right of access to criminal court records, the news outlets have asked U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton to lift or modify the order she issued in July sealing public access to certain items presented as evidence. But the U.S. Attorney's office, in a filing earlier this month, argued that the list of those associated with the case but not charged should not be made public, noting that the government can designate individuals as "complicit in criminal conduct" but not charge them with crimes for a variety of reasons.

"The fact that unindicted co-conspirators are not charged means that they have no opportunity to challenge that potentially injurious designation in court," prosecutors said.

The trial is scheduled to begin in May, but it expected to be delayed because of ongoing court motions.

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.