Dr. Michael Foley:

I just want to give the committee a view of what happens in a newsroom in terms of SLAPPs. Once somebody decides that he or she is going to take some sort of action against a journalist for a particular story, things stop. That journalist then has to be corralled off to talk to lawyers and no work is done. It has an incredibly chilling effect on a newsroom. The people who will take these suits are well-known in newsrooms. We will not defame people here but I could mention people.