By Joseph Ax

NEW YORK, Nov 21 (Reuters) - A coalition of news organizations filed an amicus brief on Wednesday opposing a request from New York City for unreleased outtakes of a new documentary about the infamous 1989 Central Park jogger rape case.

The movie by filmmaker Ken Burns, "Central Park Five," documents the lives of the five teenagers who were imprisoned for the attack but later had their convictions overturned after another man confessed to the crime.

The city, which is defending against a $250 million civil case brought by the five nearly 10 years ago, issued a subpoena in September for interview footage from the film that did not make the final cut, arguing it could prove relevant to its defense.

Burns and his production company, Florentine Films, have filed a motion to quash the subpoena on the grounds that the material is protected by New York's journalist shield law, since his film is a documentary that seeks to disseminate information to the public.

On Wednesday, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Associated Press, Dow Jones & Co, Gannett Co and The New York Times filed an amicus brief in support of Burns's motion to quash.

"The City disregards the important principle that journalists must be free to work independently of the judicial process, ignores the public interest in a reporter's right to keep information confidential, and dismisses the very real chilling effect that a decision like this will have on the public's receipt of information on important controversies," the filing said.

The brief also asserts that the city's request amounts to a "fishing expedition."

The city's law department claims Burns's film should not be afforded the protection of the shield law because it crossed the line from journalism to advocacy and because the information is not obtainable elsewhere. In a letter to the film company in October, city lawyers said one of Burns's co-directors, his daughter Sarah, worked for one of the plaintiffs' law firms from 2004 to 2006 and has called on the city to settle the case.

A second set of amici, including a number of film associations, has also filed a similar brief in support of the motion to quash.

The five teenagers confessed to beating and raping a 28-year-old female jogger in Central Park in April 1989. They recanted but were convicted based on the confessions.

In 2002, serial rapist Matias Reyes confessed to the crime, and DNA testing confirmed that he had raped the woman. The five then sued the city, claiming their confessions were coerced.

The documentary opens in a handful of New York theaters this week.

The case is In re McRay, Richardson, Santana, Wise and Salaam Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 03-cv-09974.

For the plaintiffs: Myron Beldock, Karen Dippold, Jonathan Moore and Joshua Moskovitz of Beldock Levine & Hoffman; Jane Byrialsen, David Fisher, David Kreizer and Alissa Boshnak of Fisher, Byrialsen & Kreizer; Michael and Evelyn Warren; Roger Wareham.

For the city: Elizabeth Daitz, Philip DePaul, Elizabeth Dollin and Andrew Myerberg of the New York City Law Department.

For Florentine Films: John Siegal of Baker Hostetler. For the news groups: Elizabeth McNamara of Davis Wright Tremaine. For the film groups: Andrew Celli and Julia Fong Sheketoff of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady; Michael Donaldson of Donaldson & Callif.

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