Blogger = Press

Interesting opinion coming out of the 9th Circuit, where they held that blogging is entitled to the same protections for libel as traditional journalists.  The opinion is here.

The protections of the First Amendment do not turn on whether the defendant was a trained journalist, formally affiliated with traditional news entities, engaged in conflict-of-interest disclosure, went beyond just assembling others’ writings, or tried to get both sides of a story. As the Supreme Court has accurately warned, a First Amendment distinction between the institutional press and other speakers is unworkable: 

It seems that Greener's Law applies here, and some wags have suggested updating the old quote for the digital age.  Don't pick a fight with someone who buys bandwidth by the gigabyte.

Let Freedom Ring.