How long does an outlet’s protection last?
“If a freelancer is added, say, for six months during which time an investigation is produced … and then two months after the exposé is published, the target sues … but by now the freelancer’s name is off the policy … Will the freelancer still be covered?”
Media insurance doesn’t really work that way. In most cases, the outlet doesn’t even add a freelancer to the policy by name.
Regardless of how an outlet's policy may allow it to include freelancers, the policy would almost always cover the reporter for any action arising out of the story or any reporting associated with the story, even if a complaint happens long after the story is released.
Technically, accounting for the fine print, a policy almost always protects a specific story—as long as the story is published or broadcast while the outlet’s policy is in place. With that caveat, the policy extends the protection indefinitely in most cases, normally even when the outlet switches insurance carriers.
Occasionally an outlet does change carriers. If you want to understand the possibilities in that event, or if you suspect the outlet’s policy or situation is unusual in any way, contact FIRE. But by and large, duration of the insurance coverage is not the issue. The real question is simply whether the broadcaster or publisher promises the coverage to the freelancer.