A Republican state lawmaker is sponsoring a bill that would give people more time to demand corrections or retractions from news outlets in Oregon.

The bill has drawn the ire of many Oregon news leaders who say it could chill accountability journalism, allowing powerful people more time to craft legal strategies to silence critical press coverage. Supporters say it provides greater protections for Oregonians who believe they have been defamed by inaccurate journalism.

House Bill 3564 sailed through the Oregon House of Representative on a unanimous vote in April. It’s currently in the Senate Committee on Judiciary.

Rep. Darin Harbick, R-Oakridge, proposed the bill after the Eugene Weekly reported in July that his son, Tyler Harbick, shared images and walked alongside rioters during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The lawmaker was running for office when the weekly published the story.

The paper issued a correction in December after Tyler Harbick’s attorney said he hadn’t participated in the insurrection. Harbick threatened to sue the outlet for libel, according to the weekly’s editor, Camilla Mortensen.

Tyler Harbick acknowledged he was at the Capitol to see Donald Trump’s final speech as president — “Ya, I was at Jan 6th, along with thousands of other Americans,” he wrote in a July 29 post on Facebook — but he says he didn’t attack the Capitol and didn’t cross a police barricade.

“I was an observer of a moment that will go down in the history books,” wrote Harbick, who testified in support of the bill alongside his father in March.

Tyler Harbick works as a legislative assistant for his father, with a monthly salary of $4,747, according to the Oregon Legislature’s human resources director. It’s the only bill Rep. Harbick — who did not return OPB’s requests for comment — put forward this year.

Bill would change Oregon journalism rules

There are no time limits outlining when Oregonians can request a correction or retraction from a news outlet. A correction involves fixing inaccurate facts in a news article, while a retraction involves removing the article entirely. When an outlet receives a demand to fix a defamatory story, the publisher must investigate the demand within two weeks.

Oregon law requires that a person must make a demand to a news outlet for a correction or retraction within 20 days if they want to seek damages in court. Harbick’s bill — which the outlet Street Roots first covered in April — increases that limit to 40 days.

Under the proposed law, the demand must be sent personally by mail. If the publisher agrees with the demand, they must publish a correction or retraction immediately online and correct the statement, and they must include it in the next print edition or broadcast.

Oregon news leaders push back

Several newsroom leaders in Oregon signed a letter from the Society of Professional Journalists last week opposing the measure, saying: “(W)e are concerned that advancing this bill without significant further revision would chill and undermine public service journalism at a time when it’s already facing myriad challenges.” (Rachel Smolkin, the president and CEO of Oregon Public Broadcasting, signed the letter.)

Among those who signed is Therese Bottomly, editor and vice president of content for The Oregonian/OregonLive. She said Harbick is justified in proposing legislation that stems from his personal life experiences, just like any lawmaker.

However, she added: “One person had one problem with one news organization, and that is not a reason to rewrite a statute that works perfectly well for both the public and the press and has for decades.”

Bottomly acknowledged that journalists sometimes make mistakes, but she insists the majority want to quickly and thoroughly correct them. She said she was concerned that some Oregon journalism organizations — such as the Oregon Association of Broadcasters or the Society of Professional Journalists — were not immediately consulted on the bill. In addition, giving more time for retraction demands is unnecessary in today’s rapid-fire news environment, Bottomly said.

“Nobody wants to get it wrong. We want to get it right,” Bottomly told OPB, who added: “Everyone knows that information travels much more quickly today than it did in 1955, when the statute was written. Why on earth would you want to double the time period when it’s completely unnecessary?”

Lawmaker and son say the bill improves old statute

Tyler Harbick testified before House lawmakers in March that while the Eugene Weekly corrected its reporting in December, other articles from months before were not immediately corrected. In addition, he said, the outlet didn’t include a link to the correction on the past article.

“I recently looked back on the article and noticed that it was edited to reflect the correction, but I don’t know when that update happened,” said Harbick.

Rep. Harbick testified Thursday at a public hearing with the Senate Committee on Judiciary. He said that the bill would modernize state law to ensure that it applies to digital news. He said 20 days is not enough time for Oregonians to investigate and prepare a demand for a correction, noting it’s hard to find a defamation attorney in Oregon.

“If they are able to get that letter to the editor in 10 days, then good for them,” Harbick said during the hearing. “Some people aren’t able to move that fast.”

He acknowledged that publications that are confident in their stories are not forced to issue corrections.

“This has nothing to do with free speech,” said Harbick. “Defamation is not considered protected speech under the First Amendment. When reporters exaggerate or put in extra words to defame someone, that’s wrong. This bill helps correct the record for victims of defamation statements.”

‘Capitol breached lol’

The title of the original Eugene Weekly article was “Capitol Breached LOL,” which was the caption of one of Tyler Harbick’s posts. Harbick said on Facebook that he returned to his hotel after filming riot police.

“As for my caption, ‘Capitol breached, lol’, The moment I saw a man in a funny costume with a Donald Trump wig waving at me from inside, I knew the Capitol had been breached,” Tyler Harbick wrote. “You laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.”

Mortensen, the Eugene Weekly editor, told OPB that neither Tyler Harbick nor his father ever reached out to the outlet. Harbick’s attorney, Bert Krages, did not reach out with their demand until Nov, 21, following Rep. Harbick’s electoral victory. The outlet published the correction on Dec. 12.

Mortensen said the weekly did not take down any of its articles, but opted not to wage an expensive and potentially lengthy legal battle over the story. If the bill passes, she is concerned that other small news outlets will find themselves in a similar situation.

“This legislation feels like it’s coming from a lawmaker who was mad he couldn’t silence a newspaper,” said Mortensen, who added: “We’re seeing that on a national level. We’re seeing that from President Trump who really would love to silence the media. And I would hate to see Oregon engage in that.”

Judiciary Committee members reviewing the bill could not be reached for comment. Sen. Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, said in an email: “I have questions and (am) still researching the bill. Other than that, I’m not sure I’m a good interview.”

The bill’s next work session is scheduled for Monday, May 19, at 3 p.m.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/05/12/republican-lawmaker-wants-oregonians-to-have-more-time-to-fight-media-errors/