Opinion: WikiLeaks made significant contributions to the right to know

WikiLeaks has changed the face of journalism and contributed more scoops this year than any other media outlet, reports Trevor Timm in a commentary for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. In using the Espionage Act to prosecute WikiLeaks, the federal government poses a real threat to the mainsream media and the First Amendment, argues Timm. -db [...]

Tabloid gossip threatens credibility of mainstream journalism

The sight of the mainstream media picking up tabloid speculation about a Will and Jada Pinkett Smith breakup is distubing, writes Mary Elizabeth Williams in a commentary for Salon, “…the Smith story…illuminates how utterly pathetic the mainstream media’s mania for headlines has become. Just toss up any old dubious report, and if you’re really butt-covering, [...]

Second Circuit rules: Making ‘hot news’ does not give right to control distribution

Online news aggregators can breath a little easier after yesterday’s ruling by Judge Robert D. Sack who authored the opinion in Barclays Capital v theflyonthewall.com.  The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that the flyonthewall.com blog  can report on the securities brokerages’ stock recommendations as soon as it learns of them, as [...]

Opinion: Time for bloggers to gain protections afforded traditional media

With more of the public gaining their news from online sources rather than print media and using the social media to become more interactive and participatory in accessing the news, a CMLP blogger argues that bloggers should be entitled to the same protection as mainstream press. -db Citizen Media Law Project Commentary March 1, 2010 [...]

Bloggers replace mainstream media in covering local government

Bloggers using Twitter and Facebook are filling the void to cover local government meetings, taking the place of mainstream media suffering losses of revenue as the internet takes its share of ads. -DB MediaShift January 14, 201 By Steven Davy Traditionally, newspaper reporters were dispatched to cover the mundane proceedings of a local government in action: [...]

Healthcare blogs struggle to fill gap in coverage left by mainstream news outlets

Healthcare blogs are contributing much needed information about the complications attendant to health care reform, but it remains to be seen if the blogs can make a difference given the mainstream media focus on personalities and politics. -DB Media Shift September 4, 2009 By Simon Owens Paul Testa recently checked his voicemail and listened to a [...]

Information wants to be free, but the creators of information need to eat. Whether to charge for journalism online is fundamentally a question about legal rights.

By Peter Scheer A debate rages in what remains of the newspaper industry over the question of whether papers should charge for their content online or, as most papers now do, give it away for free in hopes of reaping faster overall revenue growth through internet advertising. As more and more publications contemplate their own [...]