Hawaiian Supreme court to Say if Bloggers are Journalists
Another test of whether Bloggers should be considered journalists or not is soon coming up in Hawaii. At issue is whether or not a Blogger there should be forced to turn over her sources for a story she wrote on a questionable land deal.
A lawyer trying to get an Internet writer to testify and turn over notes for a court case says Web bloggers shouldn’t have the same rights as mainstream reporters.
With the Internet increasingly blurring the line between “journalists†and everyone else it is only natural that we should come to a time when classifications and rulings must be made.
The courts will have to weigh how many press freedoms extend to the realm of the Internet, said University of Hawaii constitutional law professor Jon Van Dyke.
“How does she differentiate herself from the zillions of other people who use the Internet, posting things on MySpace or whatever?†he asked. “If we’re going to give special protection to the press, we should have some idea of who’s in it and who’s not.â€
Absolutely the professor is right. These questions need to be answered. I often wonder myself just when what I write here on the Internet might serve to drag me into court for one reason or another. I get enough hate mail and threats of court action as it is and the legal limbo is a bit off-putting.
… not that this will deter me, naturally.
Still, I hope that, as time goes on, we will see our role as true reporters and journalists affirmed for what they really are; part of the “real†press apparatus of information dissemination in this country.
| More from Warner Todd Huston
Stumble It!
May 30th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
If a blogger is considered a journalist and their blog is considered a “published” material, it appears to me that the ability to sue for libel could greatly increase. This is especially true considering what smearing some bloggers love to do.
Thoughts?
May 30th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
“Still, I hope that, as time goes on, we will see our role as true reporters and journalists affirmed for what they really are; part of the “real†press apparatus of information dissemination in this country.”
This story kind of reminds me of that joke that in this case would go, “Today I am a jernilist, but yesterday I could not even spell it.” Classifying bloggers as journalists appears to me to be heading the journalism profession down a slippery slope of diminishing journalistic standards. However, given the nature of today’s sensationalistic and/or leftist controlled main stream media, it appears we have been slip sliding away for sound journalistic standards for some time. It appears to me that anyone with an opinion and a spell checker can present the illusion of journalistic import, but how now shall we define the true news worthiness and merit of events that reflect, and yes, influence our society? Shall we let the citizens of the Internet decided that? Oh my Gosh, if that’s the case, what will big sister do to keep control of the unthinking masses? Has the Internet become the antidote for the pacifying soma fed to the masses in our brave new world? I suspect the big sisters of Amerika will never allow that power and control to slip from their hands whilst they can avoid going quietly away, IMO.
We Don’t Need No Stinking, Patriarchy Controlled Free Media1
May 31st, 2007 at 12:08 am
Ray,
You operate under an illusion that there ever WAS a time when we could be sure of the “merits” of “journalism”. And, in fact, in the past all it took was enough cash to buy a printing press to become a “real journalist”. It took no moral authority, no real training (other than how to run the press) and no “professional” status.
So, in essence, it always HAS been that anyone with a spell-checker could present an “illusion” of being a journalist. Your complaint of how will we know the REAL news has been a question since forever and will be a question for forever to come. It is one that can only be solved by the individual reading and learning enough to form an informed opinion.
For you to assume its ever been different than that really does show how uninformed you are.
There is NO reason why a blogger cannot be considered a real journalist with the protections thereof. No reason at all. A blogger in general is no better or worse than any so-called real journalist.
May 31st, 2007 at 12:27 am
Understand that opinion is protected under free speech (you know until it isn’t) and then try to differentiate between opinion on the internet and in the newspapers, radio, televion, or just in polite or impolite society. Is there really a difference?
On the one hand, if acknowledged as journalism (which is an insult to bloggers if you ask me) then there is legal problems that haven’t changed. If it is not, however, how soon do you think it will take before they illegalize blogs?
May 31st, 2007 at 12:44 am
I was referring to the general proliferation of bloggers in general. Did you happen to notice that was the topic of the original post so that’s what I was referring to. Certainly you will admit we have never had a higher level of “published” opinions than we have today with the advent of the Internet. I was questioning the merits of that journalism specifically. As far as the journalism business, there was a time not too long ago when news was not as much shake and bake, following a leftist script, as it is today, IMO. There was a time when news media was far more concerned with fact checking the average story, IMO. There was time when news media was far more concerned with objectivity, both in the teaching of journalism and in the practice, IMO. Yes, what is newsworthy has always been a moving target subject to individual journalistic interpretation, but I don’t recall a time it’s ever been more skewed toward a leftist bias than it is today, IMO.
I’ve certainly studied the movie Citizen Kane and am aware some newspaper empires have always functioned in ways that “control news,” etc. Have you been on a college or university campus lately and seen the leftist agenda that passes for an education, including journalism? I don’t recall a time MSM has ever been as unreliable and lacking in objectivity and integrity, IMO. Is FOX News an exception to the leftist slant? In ways it is, but in regard to the gender feminist agenda it’s as leftist as any, and as far as being “fair and balanced,” that has to be one of the biggest jokes I’ve ever seen, IMO.
I don’t know who you are calling uninformed. If you think you have an inside track on the truth through informed sources then perhaps your more uninformed than any of us, and obviously, overbearingly arrogant to boot, IMO.