LOS ANGELES—On Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 98, which exempts media professionals from having to comply with police dispersal orders while covering protests, marches and other types of demonstrations. “Media organizations have documented more than 50 incidents of journalists being injured, detained or arrested over a 12-month period,” the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists said in a statement supporting the bill. “SPJ/LA viewed SB 98 as a necessary step to safeguard coverage of demonstrations by ensuring that journalists may continue reporting in an area after an unlawful assembly has been declared.” The organization worked with a coalition of more than 20 other journalism organizations, media unions and advocacy groups to establish a coalition to push state legislators to address the issue. The coalition claimed the Los Angeles Police Department’s “use of unlawful-assembly orders has expanded dramatically with little oversight,” especially in the months …