US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals: Bloggers are journalists!

As a citizen journalist and the publisher of this online e-Magazine, I was most interested in the recent decision by the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision to provide the same First Amendment rights given to me and my contributors. Bloggers are no different than journalists!

I started my life as a blogger in 2002 with a free Google blog account. I have, as have the contributors to my e-Mag, matured over the years. Each has learned how to do cutting edge research, tell the truth and cover stories the mainstream media will not cover. This ruling provides each of us, and the new media or Fifth Estate, protections under the US Constitution by validating what we do is for the public good.

Fox News reports, “A federal appeals court ruled Friday that bloggers and the public have the same First Amendment protections as journalists when sued for defamation: If the issue is of public concern, plaintiffs have to prove negligence to win damages. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new trial in a defamation lawsuit brought by an Oregon bankruptcy trustee against a Montana blogger who wrote online that the court-appointed trustee criminally mishandled a bankruptcy case.”

Gregg Leslie of the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press said the ruling affirms what many have long argued: Standards set by a 1974 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Gertz v. Robert Welch Inc., apply to everyone, not just journalists.

“It’s not a special right to the news media,” he said. “So it’s a good thing for bloggers and citizen journalists and others.”

Crystal L. Cox, a blogger from Eureka, Mont., now living in Port Townshend, Wash., was sued for defamation by Bend attorney Kevin Padrick and his company, Obsidian Finance Group LLC, after she made posts on several websites she created accusing them of fraud, corruption, money-laundering and other illegal activities. The appeals court noted Padrick and Obsidian were hired by Summit Accommodators to advise them before filing for bankruptcy, and that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court later appointed Padrick trustee in the Chapter 11 case. The court added that Summit had defrauded investors in its real estate operations through a Ponzi scheme.

A jury in 2011 had awarded Padrick and Obsidian $2.5 million.