Oregonian wins ruling in Nike documents case

A federal judge overturned an order that required The Oregonian/OregonLive to return or destroy Nike documents in its possession and refrain from publishing information from them, reports Matthew Kish of The Oregonian.

Kish reports, “The newsroom was working on a separate article, based on independent reporting, about sexual harassment at Nike when it received the documents. Laura Salerno Owens, an attorney with the Portland law firm Markowitz Herbold, told the court that she had inadvertently shared the documents with a reporter.

“After the Oregonian/OregonLive declined Salerno Owens’ request to return the documents, she filed a motion Thursday, asking the court to order their return.

“The Oregonian/OregonLive had challenged Friday’s ruling. In a short order Tuesday on the court’s electronic docket, Hernández ordered Russo to reconsider the ruling in light of arguments offered on Monday by The Oregonian/OregonLive.

“His order set aside Russo’s requirement that the news organization return or destroy the documents by the Wednesday deadline.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.