Blogger < Jouranlist = No 1A

In Oregon, 1A has been trampled on by a US District judge.  It is his opinion that anyone that blogs is not a journalist and is therefore not protected under 1A.

All this because a blogger put out some damning, but true, details about someone and got sued.  Hopefully she and smarter heads will prevail in the appeal.

It seems the communist judge,  U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez, was appointed by the illegal one now sitting in big seat.  It would appear that this could be a case of birds of a feather.....as he was born in Nogales, Az.

SOURCE

A U.S. District Court judge in Portland has drawn a line in the sand between "journalist" and "blogger." And for Crystal Cox, a woman on the latter end of that comparison, the distinction has cost her $2.5 million.
Speaking to Seattle Weekly, Cox says that the judgement could have impacts on bloggers everywhere.

the judge ruled that this single post was indeed defamatory because it was presented, essentially, as more factual in tone than her other posts, and therefore a reasonable person could conclude it was factual.


The judge in Cox's case, however, ruled that the woman did not qualify for shield-law protection not because of anything she wrote, but because she wasn't employed by an official media establishment.

From the opinion by U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez:

. . . although defendant is a self-proclaimed "investigative blogger" and defines herself as "media," the record fails to show that she is affiliated with any newspaper, magazine, periodical, book, pamphlet, news service, wire service, news or feature syndicate, broadcast station or network, or cable television system. Thus, she is not entitled to the protections of the law

Cox tells Seattle Weekly that she plans to appeal the ruling by proving her assertion that Obsidian co-founder Kevin Padrick is guilty of bankruptcy fraud--a statement that, as Cox is quite proud of, is abundantly advertised if one simply Googles Padrick's name and sees the dozens of Cox's posts that spring up about him.

So there we have it.

A former veggie picker/dishwasher has drawn a line in the sand that anyone who blogs, is not covered under 1A.