Citizen Journalists and 1st Amendment Rights
Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2017 10:50 pm
Here's a post from a list I subscribe to. I haven't had a chance to explore any of these links, but it's an interesting topic. Some readers might have more time than I. If you find anything of special value, please post back.
We had a little buzz in this forum a week or two ago surrounding the question, "what is a 'journalist'?" It was a low-key affair, without great energy or acrimony, or citing of legal precedent, or anything like that. I think all of us were just speaking-from-the-hip (I know I was), without a great deal of heavy knowledge or emotional investment in the outcome, and the topic disappeared without fanfare.
This morning I just happened (in the course of researching something else) to learn that the question "Are bloggers 'journalists'" is actually an ongoing debate in some circles. I'd been unaware of that (then again, I never thought to study-up on it either). So I throw out here a few tidbits for those who may want to study further (I don't, vague awareness is enough for me). One case in question (Obsidian v. Cox) has its share of unsavory/unsympathetic characters, but ignoring that, the ultimate question is an interesting one: Do bloggers have the same 1st Amendment duties/responsibilities/protections/etc. that "traditional" journalists do? A 9th Cir district court trial and appeals panel have produced rulings (see links below), but there still appears to be a lot of play left in the game-at-large (that is, other than the Obsidial v. Cox case).
http://www.marc.law/pdf/bloggers_citize ... d_laws.pdf
http://www1.law.umkc.edu/faculty/levit/ ... -v-cox.pdf
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill ... 1771165847
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill ... 1771165847
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/ ... ts/283225/
http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/o ... -35238.pdf
http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/20 ... -v-cox.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsidian_ ... LLC_v._Cox
https://www.bu.edu/jostl/files/2016/01/ ... el_web.pdf