Bloggers would “probably not” be considered journalists under the proposed federal shield law, the bill’s co-sponsor, U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar has told the Inter American Press Association.
According to Editor and Publisher, Lugar did say that debate is not yet closed on how to define a journalist under the proposed law.
“As to who is a reporter, this will be a subject of debate as this bill goes farther along,” he said in response to a question from Washington Post Deputy Managing Editor Milton Coleman. “Are bloggers journalists or some of the commercial businesses that you here would probably not consider real journalists? Probably not, but how do you determine who will be included in this bill?”
(thanks to Lisa for the tip)
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I guess we aren’t included because we don’t belong to any media outlet that “donates” aka: greases the wheel.
“He knows nothing; he thinks he knows everything – that clearly points to a politican” – George Bernanrd Shaw
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What about the bloggers at WIN, now part of BigCo AOL? If they’re not commercial journalists, I’ll eat my slushpile of AOL CDs :-)
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Bloggers are not journalists but rather the uncensored opinions and voices of all people! I’d much rather read the heartfelt opinions of bloggers with a genuine opinion than one of a journalist that has been purchased by a sponsor.
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Who is a journalist after all? There is no specific definition of a journalist. Therefore,it will not be wise enough to discriminate between a journalist and a blogger,especially when the latter is into equal amount research and has a whole database of unbiased opinion.
It would be the most disheartening day of the blogging community, if the act of segregating them is executed.