Federal Judge Rules Bloggers are not Journalsts

[Kat Kanning]

...out of my hometown, how embarassing.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57339016-93/oregon-judge-rules-bloggers-arent-journalists/

A recent court ruling has re-ignited the debate about whether bloggers are journalists.

A U.S. District Court judge in Portland, Ore., ruled that a blogger who wrote about an investment firm that subsequently accused her of defamation must pay the company $2.5 million because she's a blogger who doesn't legally qualify as a journalist.

Crystal Cox, whose blogs are a mixture of fact, opinion, and commentary, wrote several posts that were critical of Obsidian Finance Group and its co-founder, Kevin Padrick. In one blog post, Cox accused Padrick of fraud while serving as trustee in a real estate bankruptcy case.

The firm considered the posts defamatory and filed a $10 million lawsuit (PDF) against Cox in January. The blog the court focused on during the case was more factual in tone, suggesting she had an inside source who was leaking her information. Obsidian demanded she reveal the source of her information to prove its veracity.

Cox, who acted as her own attorney in the case, refused to reveal her source, arguing that she was afforded the same protections as journalists under Oregon's Shield Law. (Shield laws protect journalists who refuse to reveal in court the source of information obtained during the news-gathering process.)

Oregon's shield law states:

    No person connected with, employed by or engaged in any medium of communication to the public shall be required by a legislative, executive or judicial officer or body, or any other authority having power to compel testimony or the production of evidence, to disclose, by subpoena or otherwise:
    (a) The source of any published or unpublished information obtained by the person in the course of gathering, receiving or processing information for any medium of communication to the public; or
    (b) Any unpublished information obtained or prepared by the person in the course of gathering, receiving or processing information for any medium of communication to the public.

"'Medium of communication,'" as defined by Oregon law, "has its ordinary meaning and includes, but is not limited to, any newspaper, magazine or other periodical, book, pamphlet, news service, wire service, news or feature syndicate, broadcast station or network, or cable television system." (Emphasis added.)

Despite Oregon's legal definition of "any medium of communication," Judge Marco A. Hernandez disagreed with Cox, saying that "although [the] defendant is a self-proclaimed 'investigative blogger' and defines herself as 'media,' the record fails to show that she is affiliated with any newspaper, magazine, periodical, book, pamphlet, news service, wire service, news or feature syndicate, broadcast station or network, or cable television system. Thus, she is not entitled to the protections of the law in the first instance."

The judge further ruled that even if Cox had qualified for shield law protections, they would not have applied to protecting the identity of the source of allegedly defamatory content in a civil trial. "Because this case is a civil action for defamation, defendant cannot rely on the media shield law," he said.

However, Bruce E. H. Johnson, an attorney who drafted Washington state's media shield legislation in 2006, said the Oregon law appears to be a bit dated. "Oregon's law was probably written before blogging was accounted for," Johnson told Seattle Weekly, adding that, "I believe the shield law would have been applied [in Washington state]."

Cox said she intends to appeal the court's decision.

[Pat K]

I think they are trying to scare people away from
the net.

[Jim Johnson]

If Crystal Cox is going to write slanderous articles, whether she reveals her sources or not, she still has to be able to prove the truth of articles she writes. 

[Russell Kanning]

journalists are not bloggers .... they don't have the street cred

[KBCraig]

It turns out that she wasn't even trying to be a journalist. She was an extortionist.

http://www.pixiq.com/article/montana-blogger-must-start-acting-like-a-journalist

[Kat Kanning]

That doesn't change the ominous nature of the ruling.

[Jim Johnson]

You found out what the "U.S. District Court judge in Portland, Ore." requires to be considered a journalist.   One has to be attached to one of the dinosaurs: any newspaper, magazine, periodical, book, pamphlet, news service, wire service, news or feature syndicate, broadcast station or network, or cable television system.

pamphleteer trumps blogger

[KBCraig]

That doesn't change the ominous nature of the ruling.

If it was a generalized ruling, I'd agree that it's ominous, but it's not. It's specific to her, and her claim of the journalist's shield, when the evidence indicates that she didn't have a source at all; she just made up damaging claims, published them, then offered  her "services" to help remove all those damaging claims.

[AntonLee]

wire service =  internet

cable = internet

[Jim Johnson]

wire service =  internet

cable = internet

You're  redefining words by equivocating them with a method in which they are transmitted.

What the Government calls a Journalist is someone who is largely under the Government's control or, in the case of the Pamphleteer, ineffectual.

[Russell Kanning]

exactly
i wonder how long before the newspapers declare bankruptcy and or get bailed out by the government.

[Free libertarian]

I am TOO a journalist ! I have a magical press badge. 

[Kat Kanning]

LOL

[John]

I rule that judges are not agents of Justice, and that they should never be trusted.

[Russell Kanning]

order in the court