A federal judge in Oregon has decreed that Crystal Cox, a personal blogger, can be sued for defamation because she cannot rightfully claim to be a journalist. The decision came after Ms. Cox accused an investment company she’d worked with of behaving in unethical and sometimes illegal ways, in her personal blog. The judge said that to be considered a journalist, a writer must work or at least be affiliated with an established journalism organization, such as a newspaper, magazine, or even a periodical. This decree has set off a firestorm both within and without the journalistic community, and most particularly, among the staff of the New York Times; so much so that the newspaper has run competing stories on the topic for the past several days.
One writer, Kelli Sager, who is also a lawyer, suggests that there no longer exists a line dividing legitimate journalism and simple blogging. Bloggers the world over have uncovered news with sometimes world-wide repercussions. To exclude them from the protections afforded professionally journalists, she says, appears to have no basis in law.
Stuart Benjamin, a law professor at Duke University, doesn’t agree. He says the proof of it lies in the fact that thus far, no country in the world has dubbed bloggers professional journalists, which he says, should be the basis for whether a person can or should be called a legitimate journalist. On this, he agrees with the ruling judge, saying the only way a journalist can be called a professional, is to be hired by a journalistic organization. Just as is done in sports, for example. The only way an athlete can be called a professional, is if a professional sports organization is willing to pay them for their skills.
Kyu Ho Youm, journalism professor at the University of Oregon, isn’t really to go either way just yet, but believes judges will continue to see bloggers as little more than people speaking with the written word, rather than out loud, which he notes, can still get you into trouble if you go about slandering someone without some evidence to back up your claims, which he notes, Ms. Cox did not.
Ellyn Angelotti of the Poynter Institute, unsurprisingly, sides with Ms. Cox, saying that she and all Americans should be able to post whatever they wish on their blogs without worrying an army of lawyers will show up at their door.
Cleary this is not an issue that will be settled any time soon, though it will likely have to be settled one way or another as more and more people blab away on blogs, unaware that they could possibly be sued for what they say if someone else doesn’t like it.