Reporter’s Privilege Extended to New Media
There are currently two proposed bills circulating on Capitol Hill that would extend Reporter’s Privilege to those who “report” news via blogs or other social networking sites.
Reporter’s Privilege is the Federal First Amendment right given to reporters to protect their confidential sources. Currently there is debate in Congress on whether this privilege should extend to those who regularly gather or report news via blogs and other news gathering websites.
Wikipedia defines a reporter or journalist as one who practices journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues, and people while striving for viewpoints that aren’t biased. Furthermore, Journalists gather information from sources and are responsible for verifying information gathered.
Applying the above definition, sites like Black Web 2.0, that regularly break news, are clearly entitled to receive Reporter’s Privilege. These sites regularly report on current events multiple times per day. The public may go to these sites first to receive news rather than regular news outlet sites. In addition, these New Media sites receive “exclusives” from anonymous and confidential sources that allows them to publish news before traditional news media.
Thus, extending the Federal Privilege law to New Media sites simply makes sense. Although New Media reporters may not be affiliated with a recognized or traditional news outlet, their job function and value to the public are essentially the same.
Category: Blogging, IP Law, web 2.0 | Tags: Bloggers, Congress, Federal First Amendment, Federal Privilege Law, Intellectual Property Law, Legislation, Reporter's Privilege
About the Author Latoicha Givens is the founder and a member of the firm Phillips Givens, LLC. Ms. Givens practice includes represention of start-ups, small, and mid-sized businesses in intellectual property matters, specficially, trademarks, copyrights, and licensing issues. She is the author of IPLAW101.com, a blog covering Intellectual Property issues specifically trademark law - trademark registration and infringement; Domain Name Disputes: Cybersquatting; Licensing and Intellectual Property issues in New Media.
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Those sites that publish the stories provided by these journalists will and should be held responsible and liable for fact checking. This seems to be the biggest problem associated with blogs and some web sites. Much of the information goes unchecked before it is on line, unlike traditional print media which because of the delay in getting to print allows for verification (although some stuff still makes it through unverified).
A journalist’s obligation is to provide news not gossip, or rumors!