What's the difference between a blogger and a journalist? Congress is still debating that question, but today a federal appeals court ruled that there's no difference when it comes to defamation.
In 2011, blogger Crystal Cox lost a trial when an Oregon judge denied her a First Amendment protection traditionally reserved for the press. She claimed that Obsidian Finance Group was guilty of tax fraud — a statement with no basis in fact — and a jury awarded Obsidian $2.5 million in damages. Normally, Obsidan would have had to prove that Cox was negligent to recover some of that money, and that she acted with "actual malice" to get the rest. However, those rules came from Supreme Court cases that only applied to journalists — cases...
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