Thursday, January 23, 2014

"Federal appeals court rules bloggers are real reporters under the First Amendment"

"Remember when Juan Williams told Michelle Malkin that he was a "real reporter," not just a "blogger"? Well, one of the most liberal federal courts in the country says that's a distinction without a difference under the First Amendment.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision Friday recognizing bloggers as journalists under the First Amendment came about in a defamation lawsuit.

"The protections of the First Amendment do not turn on whether the defendant was a trained journalist, formally affiliated with traditional news entities, engaged in conflict-of-interest disclosure, went beyond just assembling others' writings, or tried to get both sides of a story," the court ruled in Obsidian Finance Group v. Cox."

Source
http://washingtonexaminer.com/federal-appeals-court-rules-bloggers-are-real-reporters-under-the-first-amendment/article/2542432?custom_click=rss