FreeMarketNews.com
Oct. 11, 2005
Excerpt:
Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana is coming to the
rescue of the American press by co-sponsoring a proposed “federal
shield law,” known formally as the Free Flow of Information Act of
2005. Lugar told the Inter American Press Association on Monday that
news bloggers would “probably not” be considered journalists under the
provisions of his bill. He did say, according to an Editor and
Publisher article, that “debate is not yet closed” on how to define
“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.
“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?”
