Mon, 10 Oct 2005

Senator Lugar: Bloggers will probably not be deemed journalists

Sometimes our senior Senator really embarrasses me. If I write political rants, and publish them myself, why does the media used for publication make a difference to my status as a "legitimate journalist"? Is The Drudge Report journalism? How about any number of other political blogs?

My friends Scott Hutcheson and Chadd Wheat keep blogs in which they post their columns from the local paper - and they sometimes reverse the process and base the column on the blog. Are they "legitimate journalists" or not?

Is payment the key? I imagine that both Scott and Chadd make more from their efforts than the Vodka Pundit, as they get paid from the paper and the popular pundit runs no ads on his blog. But they probably net far less than Instapundit or dailyKos - advertising revenue adds up.

If you're going to offer a Federal shield to journalists, than offer it to all journalists - not just the ones who publish on paper or broadcast over the air or those who get paid for their opinions. To do otherwise invites judicial intervention that will be guaranteed to outrage somebody, and probably justifiably so.

Bloggers likely will not be deemed legitimate journalists who will be able to receive the coveted protections of a federal...

(link) [CNET News.com]

/Politics | 2 writebacks | permanent link

On 7/25/2006 09:35:27
Chadd Wheat wrote

Of course!

On 7/25/2006 09:36:40
Chadd Wheat wrote

But...

comment...

 
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