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While I would consider very little of the content on my blog to be any form of journalism, there are a number of sites out there whose work I would definitely consider to be journalism. As such, I believe those sites' writers deserve the same Constitutional protection that members of the print, radio, and television journalism communities deserve. One of those is the right to keep their sources of information a secret. Recent court cases have forced, or attempted to force, writers of technical blogs to reveal the sources of information used to write their articles. This is a very sad and dangerous trend, in my opinion. Here's why... Let's imagine for a moment that you take part in a very "niche" activity, something that isn't big enough news for radio or television to bother with. But imagine, then, that there are bloggers who share your interest in that activity and devote their free time to researching and writing news articles about it. If those bloggers develop enough of a reputation as serious journalists to encourage insiders in that hobby to share "secret" information (like upcoming new product designs), they clearly are seen as reliable and trustworthy information sources by those "in the know" within that activity (whatever it might be). If someone who didn't want to see that information make the light of day (e.g., a company involved in that secret, or a politician whose actions threatened it), they could sue the blogger (who is probably not making money, or is making little of it) to reveal the source of the information. If proposed federal legislation passes, the blogger would be required to turn over that information because his blog isn't "real" journalism in the legal definition. Even if you don't engage in any activities that are out of the "mainstream", you should still be concerned about this activity. Imagine if companies could squelch personal blogs that posted critical reviews of software or hardware, criticized their actions, or brought to light dangers of using their products. That's the reality we COULD see if the new federal regulations pass. I encourage everyone reading this to write their representatives in the Senate and House of Representatives in Washington to let them know that just because a journalist practices on-line instead of in print, on the radio, or on TV, that they can still be journalists and still deserve the protection afforded to the journalists in "traditional" media.
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