Biography
As general counsel and chief compliance officer at The Associated Press, Karen is responsible for overseeing all the legal functioning of the company globally with emphasis on press freedom rights, restrictive reporting laws, journalist safety, risk and crisis management, governance and compliance. Karen has put into place risk management measures on a variety of issues including crisis management and sanctions compliance (including in North Korea and Russia). Karen has co-designed and co-leads
AP’s crisis management operations for journalists in high-risk situations globally. She has successfully navigated crisis situations in Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, including the successful release of journalists from jail in China, Sudan, Myanmar, and Ethiopia, and oversaw the mass evacuation of staff from Afghanistan in 2021 and Russia in 2022. Karen is a frequent speaker at international conferences on issues concerning global press freedoms rights and standards on journalist safety, including reporting risks and digital security. Karen has twice been honored as one of “America’s 50 Outstanding General Counsel” by the National Law Journal for championing First Amendment rights, and she also serves on the Department of Justice News Media Task force where she meets regularly with government officials to discuss issues of importance to members of the press.