We The Journalists

(AP)

But Tom Keane, a Boston freelancer, has an easy answer for all of us: Everybody!

According to his op-ed published in the Boston Globe yesterday:

Someone for whom reporting is a full-time profession? Someone working for an established media organization? Or anyone?

I think it should be anyone. If you report, investigate, or opine - even part time - then you're doing journalism. That's not to say that every blogger's work is necessarily as good as that of traditional news organizations.

(Also, by saying "even part time" he seems to imply that some money should change hands in the process – but that's a completely different issue.)

Upon further thought, though, the concept stops making sense. After all, imbuing everyone with the rights and distinctions of a journalist also raises the bar on their standards, doesn't it? If you are allowed the protections – Keane uses the shield law as an example – aren't you also judged by the same guidelines?

What about libel and slander? What about stories that turn out to be flat-out untrue? (This is where I sidestep the National Review's "No 'just blogging' excuse" vs. New Republic ""Fog of War" comparison, with a plan to get back to it after further research.)

I doubt there's any of us that have not seen something downright wrong and/or malicious about a celebrity or a politician online. (Or photoshop tomfoolery.) Keane's suggestion, by accrediting all journalists – as mushy as his definition is – could make all things contestable in court.

Freedom of speech is famously limited, as well, by the old axiom of "You can't shout 'fire' in a crowded theater." Which is to say you can't wreak havoc and create potential injury with irresponsible speech.

But people are constantly posting obviously false material on the Internet everyday, wreaking virtual havoc and potentially injuring reputations in the process -- with little or no recourse available to the aggrieved party, since everyone shrugs off such things with "What do you expect? It's the Internet" apathy. And that's the uneasy place we've gotten to in 2007.

So while Keane is onto something when he says that the Internet and new technology is empowering us all to engage in the national/global discussion, he oversteps a tad to say we're all journalists now.

But enough of what I think in all this. In an e-mail exchange, with Keane, he responded to my concerns with the following:

Thanks for writing I assume by your libel questions you're referring to the Sullivan protections for journalists. Basically, the court ruled that when it came to libel, one needed to prove actual malice and reckless disregard. Of course, that only applies to public figures. Whether you're a journalist or not, libel of a private figure is not touched by the First Amendment. Thus, nothing I suggested changes any of that.

On the other hand, if you libel a public figure, then one defense, obviously, is that you were doing so in your role as a journalist. Whether you were really doing so is a factual matter, one to be decided at a trial. But note that we have never required licenses or anyhing like that for one to be a journalist. Courts generally extend the protections pretty widely. If you're doing something that genuinely looks like journalism (be it print or TV, blog or YouTube), then I would think you'd be covered by Sullivan.

But from where I see it, Keane's idea, at least in theory, is that if you do the hard work and exert energy into finding things -- things that 'look like journalism' -- and posting them on a blog, you should be rewarded for your efforts with some protection.

Is it squishy? A tad. Is it ripe for potential abuses? Sure, but most laws and rights have loopholes and blind spots. Couldn't you do all this and then turn your info to the local paper or TV channel's tipline? In some cases, of course.

But Keane's suggestion is the next step in empowering everyday people to help with that whole The Truth Will Out thing.

And just as soon as we get a Federal Shield Law, this should be on the media's legal "to do" list.