"The Ninth Circuit Holds—Correctly—That a Blogger Has the Same Defamation Protection as a Journalist" ~ Julie Hilden

"On January 17, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled, as a matter of first impression, that First Amendment defamation rules apply equally to both the institutional press and individual speakers and writers, such as bloggers.

Because this was the core issue in the case, I’ll focus on this issue, rather than on the underlying factual dispute between the parties (a blogger named Crystal Cox, and several companies that Cox had criticized publicly.)"

"Then, as to that single remaining statement, the Court confronted the issue of whether a blogger like Cox enjoys the same First Amendment protections that journalists do.

The Ninth Circuit held that Cox did, indeed, enjoy those same protections. (In contrast, the district judge had required Cox to produce “evidence of her status as a journalist” in order for her to be allowed to invoke those same First Amendment protections.)"

Source of Quotes and Full Article
http://verdict.justia.com/2014/02/03/ninth-circuit-holds-correctly-blogger-defamation-protection-journalist