"US appeals court rules bloggers, public have same First Amendment protection as journalists"

"It's not a special right to the news media," he said.

 "So it's a good thing for bloggers and citizen journalists and others."

"Though Cox acted as her own attorney, UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh, who had written an article on the issue, learned of her case and offered to represent her in an appeal. Volokh said
such cases usually end up settled without trial, and it was rare for one to reach the federal appeals court level.

"It makes clear that bloggers have the same First Amendment rights as professional journalists," he said. "There had been similar precedents before concerning advocacy groups, other writers and book authors. This follows a fairly well established chain of precedents. I believe it is the first federal appeals court level ruling that applies to bloggers."

Source
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/240917881.html