NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Reorg Research, the leading provider of real-time news, commentary, and analysis on the distressed debt and leveraged finance markets, welcomed a unanimous 5-0 decision from the First Department Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court finding that Reorg Research’s editorial team is protected by New York’s Shield Law from being compelled to disclose the identities of its confidential sources.

Kent Collier, Founder and CEO of Reorg Research, said, “We are extremely pleased by the court’s decision. In this evolving media landscape, it sends a powerful message that journalistic freedom is important and worth protecting. I could not be prouder of our entire team here at Reorg, and I look forward to continuing to provide our subscribers with the very best news and analysis in the industry.”

The ruling was in response to a pre-action petition filed by Murray Energy seeking to force Reorg to divulge the identities of confidential sources who contributed to stories on Murray’s financial results and an agreement between the company and one of its labor unions. While Murray had argued that Reorg’s limited subscriber base, restrictions on further dissemination of its stories and relatively high fees precluded it from being protected by the Shield Law, the court found that such features are “not uncommon” in today’s media landscape. The court added that the result of ruling in Murray’s favor “is not broader coverage but no coverage at all.”

Not only did the court find that Reorg was protected by the Shield Law, but it also noted that the holding “is consistent with New York’s ‘long tradition...of providing the utmost protection of freedom of the press’” and “[t]o condition coverage on a fact-intensive inquiry analyzing a publication’s number of subscribers, subscription fees, and the extent to which it allows further dissemination of information is unworkable and would create substantial prospective uncertainty, leading to a potential ‘chilling’ effect.”

The full ruling can be found here.

About Reorg Research

Reorg Research is an industry-leading provider of real-time news, analysis and commentary on issues affecting the distressed debt, event-driven and leveraged finance markets. The company’s mission is to provide independent, insightful and timely market intelligence and analysis to subscribers--which include leading asset managers, hedge funds, investment banks, law firms and financial advisors--so they can make better business and investment decisions. Reorg Research consists of a dedicated team of journalists and legal, financial and policy analysts that leverage the firm’s proprietary technology to provide a comprehensive view of the situations that are important to its subscribers.