Court Rules Bloggers Are Not Journalists

(Portland, Oregon) US District Court Judge Marco A. Hernandez has ruled that bloggers are not journalists and, therefore, do not qualify for protections given to journalists.

Judge Hernandez also rejected the contention that bloggers are members of the media.

The rulings came in the defamation case of Obsidian Finance Group and Kevin Padrick (plaintiffs) v. Crystal Cox (defendant). Cox was sued for allegedly defaming Obsidian Finance and its co-founder Kevin Padrick in several highly-critical blog posts.

A $10 million judgment was sought.

Representing herself in court, Cox had argued that her writing was a mixture of facts, commentary and opinion (like a million other blogs on the web) and moved to have the case dismissed.

Dismissed it wasn't, however, and after throwing out all but one of the blog posts cited by Obsidian Financial, 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 ruled against Cox on that post and awarded $2.5 million to the investment firm.

Cox asserted that her post was factual based upon a source she was protecting. The judge said Cox had to reveal her source since she does not qualify for shield-law protection in Oregon.

From the opinion by Judge 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

Note that the applicable elements of Oregon law reiterated by Judge Hernandez do not acknowledge the existence of the Internet.

Cox reportedly plans to appeal the ruling and is representing herself. It's recommended that she get a lawyer.