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WGRZ-TV reporter and Canisius College adjunct professor Claudine Ewing, whose jailhouse interview with a man waiting to stand trial in a grisly murder case has thrust her into a court battle of her own, will speak on Friday (October 8) at Noon in Lyons Hall Room 418 to a class in Canisius College’s new multimedia journalism program.  All Canisius faculty and staff are invited to attend but seating is limited.

Ewing, a news reporter and fill-in anchorwoman at WGRZ, and an adjunct professor who teaches broadcast journalism in the Communication Studies Department at Canisius, is invoking the New York State Shield Law to challenge a judge’s subpoena of her notes from the jailhouse interview, which took place September 7 inside the Erie County Holding Center.

In her report which was televised September 8, Ewing quoted Muzzammil S. “Mo” Hassan as saying that he “felt an incredible amount of relief” after beheading and killing his estranged wife, Aasiya Zubair Hassan.  Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita, III contends that Ewing’s interview with Hassan makes her a witness in the case, “and, as a witness, she has a legal obligation to turn over her notes,” Sedita told The Buffalo News.

WGRZ is fighting the judicial subpoena of Ewing’s notes. Station general manager Jim Toellner and attorney Susan C. Roney contend the state’s shield law protects the autonomy of the news media.

Submitted by:  Rob Kaiser, assistant professor, communication studies/journalism