Conyers on Bloggers' Rights

The question of what rights and privileges should be extended to bloggers has been raised in multiple ways recently. The application of the McCain-Feingold campaign reform act to blogs raised the question of whether or not bloggers should be given the press exemption. The recent Apple lawsuit raised questions about a blogger's right to protect confidential sources, as members of the media would. Representative John Conyers writes:

Bloggers should be classified as journalists and given First Amendment protections based on the function they perform, not the form of their transmissions. Properly understood, the First Amendment applies to all those who report with journalistic integrity--offline or online.

This should be a fairly simple and obvious point. The particular medium used to distribute information does not define the press. The term "press" describes a function, not a distribution medium. (Imagine someone arguing that radio reporter is a journalist, but the same reporter on television is not, because TV does not distribute journalism.) Therefore, if a blogger is performing a journalistic function, he or she should be entitled to the rights of a journalist.