first amendment journalist/blogger rights

Are bloggers journalists?


Sometimes. While this question is often asked in the mainstream media and on blogs, it does not frame the debate very well. You can use blogging software for journalism, and many bloggers do.
But you can also use blogging software for other purposes.

What makes a journalist a journalist is whether she is gathering news for dissemination to the public, not the method or medium she uses to publish.
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https://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal/journalists/privilege

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"How is the constitutional reporter's privilege qualified?

Courts have set forth a multi-factor balancing test for deciding the applicability of the constitutional reporter's privilege. 

Generally, the subpoenaing party must show that the material is unavailable despite exhaustion of all reasonable alternative sources, that there is a compelling and overriding interest in obtaining the information, and that it is clearly relevant to an important issue in the case."