Bloggers to be treated more like journalists?

May 8th, 2007 · Daniel · Technology No comments - Tags: Local

There is some news of bloggers possibly receiving more protection (thanks to Arstechnica) like what traditional journalists enjoy now. Generally, this is referred to as “shield law” to shield the press from lawsuits stemming from reporting some information under certain circumstances.

Granted, specific stipulations have to be met, and not everyone will get this protection, but it is good to see lawmakers recognizing blogging as a news medium. Lots of blogs are decent news outlets, covering everything from politics to technology. Some are just opinion, which mine falls under more often than not.

I do hope that the law in some form makes progress and is effective. Even though I am more opinion on here than anything, it would be nice to have some protection should I decide to expose corruption or news. How could I get a hot “whistle-blower” story if my confidential source could be identified? I couldn’t, and that is what this bill is designed to remedy.

The news in this area is dominated by 2 newspapers. One can’t effectively investigate and follow up due to too few reporters and probably budgetary concerns. The other is too new and hasn’t proven itself enough yet (but they are doing a good job so far). Hopefully soon I will be able to devote a significant amount of time to this and develop some reporting skills of my own.

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Bloggers to be treated more like journalists?

There is some <a href="http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070507-new-bill-to-give-bloggers-same-shield-law-protection-as-journalists.html">news of bloggers possibly receiving more protection</a> (thanks to <a href="http://arstechnica.com">Arstechnica</a>) like what traditional journalists enjoy now. Generally, this is referred to as "shield law" to shield the press from lawsuits stemming from reporting some information under certain circumstances. 

Granted, specific stipulations have to be met, and not everyone will get this protection, but it is good to see lawmakers recognizing blogging as a news medium. Lots of blogs are decent news outlets, covering everything from politics to technology. Some are just opinion, which mine falls under more often than not.

I do hope that the law in some form makes progress and is effective. Even though I am more opinion on here than anything, it would be nice to have some protection should I decide to expose corruption or news. How could I get a hot "whistle-blower" story if my confidential source could be identified? I couldn't, and that is what this bill is designed to remedy. 

The news in this area is dominated by 2 newspapers. One can't effectively investigate and follow up due to too few reporters and probably budgetary concerns. The other is too new and hasn't proven itself enough yet (but they are doing a good job so far). Hopefully soon I will be able to devote a significant amount of time to this and develop some reporting skills of my own. 

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