Are Bloggers Journalists? Should They Get to Use Shield Laws?

First i will start by definition the shield laws for journalists and what the shield laws do for journalists.
Shield laws are laws which protect journalists from being forced to disclose confidential information in legal proceedings. These laws protect the rights of a journalist from revealing confidential sources, notes, or other unpublished information and may be applied in both criminal and civil hearings. There are currently no federal statutes pertaining to shield laws, and as such these laws are left up to the states to determine.

The issue of whether or not journalists can be subpoenaed and forced to reveal confidential information arose in 1972 with the United States Supreme Court case Branzburg v. Hayes. Paul Branzburg was a reporter for The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky and wrote an article about the drug hashish. In creating the article, he came in contact with two local citizens who had created and used the drug. Because their activity was illegal, Branzburg promised the two individuals that he would not reveal their identities. After the article was published, Branzburg was subpoenaed by a local grand jury and ordered to reveal the identity of his sources. Branzburg refused and cited the provisions for freedom of the press from the First Amendment of the Constitution, in his defense.
The case eventually reached the US Supreme Court, where the court decided in a five to four decision that the press did not have a Constitutional right of protection from revealing confidential information in court. The court acknowledged, however, that the government must "convincingly show a substantial relation between the information sought and a subject of overriding and compelling state interest." While this ruling did not set a precedent for journalistic rights in court, it did define a more stringent set of requirements for when a journalist could be subpoenaed in court. This ruling was limited in nature, did not set a clear federal precedent regarding journalistic privileges from revealing confidential information, and thus has been interpreted and cited differently by courts over the years.

Now we know what is the shield laws for journalists and how it work . 




Now Are Bloggers Journalists?  Should They Get to Use Shield Laws? 




April  25, 2010  ever have a negative experience with a company and your first impulse is to use the power of your website to go online and write about it? You may want to think twice,
since a ruling in New Jersey against a blogger last week may have implications for wether or not bloggers are journalists and therefore protected by shield  laws and youmay need to be able to back up and prove any claims you make online .
on  July 2010 the New Jersey superior Superior Court ruled that Shellee Hale, a blogger, was not a journalist -- and therefore not protected by shield laws, which normally protect journalists -- when she went online and "defamed the company Too Much Media by writing, among other things, that the firm had violated state laws protecting consumers against identity theft," according to the ABA Journal.
Superior Court Judge Louis Locascio stated in the July decision, "To extend the newsperson's privilege to such posters would mean anyone with an e-mail address, with no connection to any legitimate news
publication, would post anything on the internet and hide behind the shield law's protections."

Last week's appellate court ruling allowed the company, which according to the New Jersey Star-Ledger, "supplies software to online pornography websites," to continue with its slander lawsuit.

Shield laws are there to protect journalists who need to serve as whistleblowers on sensitive issues prior to a legal ruling. They state that journalists do not need to reveal their sources and can refuse to testify about information they write in an article. Hale tried to utilize shield laws when the company demanded that she back up her claims and reveal her sources.
Yet bloggers often act as journalists -- journalists outside the mainstream media -- and this ruling could muzzle ordinary citizens from using their voice to point out the foibles of companies without protection from lawsuits. At the same time, this ruling could also protect citizens and companies from having slanderous statements made about them on the Internet. It's a ruling that cuts both ways.
At the heart of the case is the question of whether bloggers are journalists -- and if so, should they be held to the same standards as well as receive the same protections.
Journalistics points out that the self-perception of bloggers as journalists has risen.


Joshua Wolf (born June 8, 1982) is an American journalist who was jailed by a Federal district court on August 1, 2006 for refusing to turn over a collection of videotapes he recorded during a July 2005 demonstration in San Francisco, California. 

Reference
www.wikipedia.com
www.blogher.com
www.youtube.com